#365DaysOfWriting – Day 172
Mexican standoff
Wikipedia traces the etymology of this term to the Mexican-American War of the 19th century. There’s also a reference of post-war Mexican bandits, and the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary makes an unattributed claim that the term is of Australian origin.
There is a Mexican standoff in the dispute over its origin itself!
After all, we can’t know the EXACT truth, can we? Someone please correct me if I’m wrong. But I’d like to believe that the origin of the term itself is mired in a Mexican standoff. It just seems perfect.
It has been used in numerous instances – mainly fictional.
I think it was made famous by the Hollywood Westerns of old. At least that’s where I came across the term for the first time. Of course, you could term the US-Soviet Cold War as a huge global Mexican standoff. But it looks much better in a Western.
Take the case of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
Easily one of my favourite Westerns… actually one of my favourite films of all time, the Mexican standoff between Blondie (Clint Eastwood), Angel Eyes (Lee Van Cleef) and Tuco (Eli Wallach) is one of the high points of the film. It’s another matter that Blondie walks away with the plaudits, but the set up of this standoff is one of the most intense I’ve ever seen.
You can watch the scene here.
This is what it looks like.
There is a beautiful symmetry to the whole set-up.
Another great example is Reservoir Dogs.
You’ll find a lot more examples (including the ones above) in this video.
