Well attestedNamed from the place
Bolivian marching powder
noun · first attested 1980s
A novel about New York nightlife in 1984 put this phrase into general English.
Cocaine.
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1980s
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Bolivia
- In English
Bolivian marching powder
Jay McInerney used it repeatedly in Bright Lights, Big City, and the phrase escaped the book. Bolivia and Peru grew most of the world's coca through the 1980s and 1990s, before Colombia overtook them, which is why English also has Peruvian and Colombian marching powder. Marching powder plays on the military use of stimulants.