Montezuma's revenge

Definition

Diarrhea experienced by tourists after drinking water or eating food in Mexico as a result of a microorganism to which native Mexicans are immune.

Etymology

Named for Montezuma or Moctezuma II (c. 1466 – 1520), the last Aztec ruler before the empire was conquered by the Spanish. The condition is seen as “retribution” for the massacres and enslavement of the Aztec people by the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés on August 13, 1521.

Example Sentences

• "Montezuma's Revenge, everybody knows, is the persistent intestinal illness that spoils the good humour of tourists in the tropics. Could there be a Montezuma's Revenge of the soul? There could. We caught it."
• "There's a lot of flu bugs floating around. I think it is commendable that he thought enough of his fellow senators to keep his diseases to himself. I don't know what he had, but I suspect it was Montezuma's Revenge. (Mexico is the only country in the world where the expression "Royal Flush" has nothing to do with playing cards.)"
• "President Jimmy Carter arrived in Mexico City for a state visit on February 14, 1979, and proceeded to recall for his hosts a previous encounter with Mexican culture, decades earlier as a naval officer, in which he had contracted what he described as "Montezuma's revenge." This indelicate reference to tourist's diarrhea became something of an international incident; Mexican Preident José López Portillo insisted that his country be treated with respect, while the local press denounced the remark as a "typical Yankee slur.""