A discussion of the origin of the phrases black Mariah and paddy wagon over on the Discouraging Word [the 04/23/03 entry, via Language Hat] got me to wondering about the origins of the similar German phrase die grüne Minna. From the German police color, green, (though I see now [via Google] that that is changing to blue, in line with some EU regulations), and the nickname for Wilhelmina (I assume). It also got me to thinking about the first movie studio that Edison built which his workers named the Black Mariah.
Posted by jim at June 3, 2003 06:22 PM