Paris syndrome
n.— «A Japanese woman in her 20s stopped a well-dressed Frenchman in the Opera metro station yesterday afternoon and asked him in broken English for help with a public telephone. He replied with a finger in the air and walked on, leaving another potential candidate for “Paris Syndrome.” The term has been coined by Dr Hiroaki Ota, a Paris-based psychiatrist who specialises in a state of depression which hits Japanese who come to live in the City of Light. The condition mainly afflicts young Japanese women and is brought on by the collision between the Japanese dream of France and the rough reality of Paris life.» —“‘Paris Syndrome’ Hits Japanese Dreamers” in Paris, France The Statesman (Kolkata, India) Dec. 15, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Language is always evolving, and that’s also true for American Sign Language. A century ago, the sign for “telephone” was one fist below your mouth and the other at your ear, as if you’re holding an old-fashioned candlestick...
A listener in Unadilla, New York, says her husband, whose family is French-Canadian, uses the phrase That burns my onions when something irritates him. There are several kitchen-related metaphors used to express anger, including that steams my...