Montezuma's Revenge

Posted by ESC on February 14, 2000

In Reply to: Montezuma's Revenge posted by Demi North on February 14, 2000

: I was wondering if someone, anyone, out there could tell me a little something about this phrase, besides all of the stuff found in the dictionary.

"Montezuma's revenge. A euphemism for diarrhea, the words apparently dating back to about 1940 and named after the Aztec emperor who lost his empire to the conquistadors. Usually caused by impure water, the debilitating illness also goes by the names of the Curse of Montezuma, the Mexican two-step or fox trot, the Aztec hop and the Mexican toothache. In other parts of the world it is known as the Tokyo trots, the Rangoon runs, and the Delhi belly." From the Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).