Hanoi Hilton
English
editEtymology
editFrom Hanoi + Hilton. An alliterative construction, pairing the location Hanoi (metonymically referring to North Vietnam) with a word referring to lodgings. An ironic reference to the Hilton chain of luxury hotels.
Proper noun
edit- (US, military, slang, historical) Hỏa Lò Prison in Vietnam, where prisoners of war were held.
- 1999 May 30, Luba Vangelova, “From the Hanoi Hilton To the Hilton Hanoi”, in The New York Times[1], →ISSN:
- The Hilton Hanoi Opera hotel has opened, a few blocks from Hoa Lo, the infamous “Hanoi Hilton” where American prisoners were held during the Vietnam War. (The few remaining cells of that prison have been preserved as a museum.)