Well attestedFrom the people of the place
Peruvian marching powder
noun · first attested 1979
The powder keeps you marching and the adjective says where the coca grew.
Slang for cocaine.
Record
- Relationship
- From the people of the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 1979
- 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
Peru
- In English
Peruvian marching powder
Peru is one of the three Andean countries that between them grow almost all the world's coca, and the phrase is in print by 1979. The better known variant names Bolivia, largely because Jay McInerney used Bolivian marching powder throughout Bright Lights, Big City in 1984. Cocaine slang leans heavily on the name of the source country.
Also pinned to Peru
1 more from the same place
Peru
All 5 entries