Mexican standoff

English thumb|Steampunk-styled enactment of a three-way Mexican standoff. Etymology First use appears c. 1876 in the US.Sam Clements 2013-07-26 antedating "Mexican standoff" (OED/HDAS 1891) ads-l https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2013-July/127834.html 19 March 2023 Three-way gun standoffs, popularized in spaghetti westerns such as The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966), have come to be called Mexican standoffs, though this usage appears to date to the 1990s, notably in reference to Reservoir Dogs (1992); earlier usage refers to this as a three-way standoff or triangular standoff. Pronunciation en En-au-Mexican standoff.ogg AU Noun en slang A stalemate, or a confrontation among two or more sides that no side can win. en March 19, 1876 F. Harvey Smith Mexican Stand-Off Sunday Mercury New York 2/col. 5 “Go-!” said he sternly then. “We will call it a stand-off, a Mexican stand-off, you lose your money, but you save your life!” en 1891 September N.Y. Sporting Times 19 4/col. 3 ‘Monk’ Cline, who got a Mexican stand-off from Dave Rowe has signed with Louisville. en slang An inconclusive standoff, ending in mutual retreat.Cassell’s Dictionary of Slang en slang A confrontation among two or more armed parties, none of which wants to attack first (fearing that the other could retaliate), but neither of which will disarm (for fear the other will attack). 255 “Either way you want it,” says Babbs, grinning in the most frightening manner now, like the next step is eight karate chops to the gizzards and giblets. Suddenly it is a Mexican standoff—with both sides glaring but nobody swinging a punch yet. en slang A three-way or more standoff. en 1994 Mickey w:Natural Born Killers w:Quentin Tarantino; David Veloz Woody Harrelson Looks like we got us a Mexican Standoff. en 1999 Foster Hirsch Detours and Lost Highways: A Map of Neo-noir 259 [About Reservoir Dogs] In this scene, and in the three-way shootout, a Mexican standoff, the extreme, almost operatic violence is grazed with black comedy en slang poker A pot that is split among the players because of a tie. en rail transport A near-collision between two trains; an averted cornfield meet. Usage notes Usage varies significantly over time and between users. In some use, it is not distinguished from a generic en standoff. In other use, specifically between two parties, or specifically between three parties; specifically ending inconclusively, or ending violently. See also en circular firing squad References Further reading tqcx4eq j4i2u6a Mexican adj Mexican standoff n en terms derived from toponyms