Talk:coaster

RFV discussion: October–November 2011
Rfv-sense: "A prostitute living in a port town." - -sche (discuss) 07:00, 6 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I question -sche's motivations for this nomination...looks to me liked he just saw the word "prostitute" and flipped. That's not right; that's censorship.  Nonetheless, I added a website and book that use "coaster" in that context  Purplebackpack89  (Notes Taken) (Locker) 02:39, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Nobody is censoring anything. This is a debate where people can provide input. I'm curious about this word, too, 'cause I've never heard it. About your two references: #1 actually says "a 'coaster' prostitute", which might suggest that coaster just means "someone living or working near the coast"; #2 looks more promising, but coaster is still marked with a footnote, suggesting that English readers won't know what it is (or it isn't a typical translation, or not a usual English word). Abraham Saul Burack's Writing detective and mystery fiction (1945) actually mentions it in reference to #2, also in quotation marks: "To revert to The Shanghai Bund Murders: Captain North's first problem was to discover who had murdered a young Englishman who was in love with Ruby Braunfeld, a notorious "coaster" known to be in touch with the bandit generals." Equinox ◑ 02:46, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
 * I think the reason it's in a footnote is because the book is written in American English, but the term is from Chinese English, which is a variant of British English. Part of the problem is that the term hasn't really been used since the 1930s, and is especially used to refer to a lady of the evening from Shanghai.  Being in quotes just means it's a slang or a euphamism; I would argue it doesn't discount it as a definition altogether.  Purplebackpack89  (Notes Taken) (Locker) 03:20, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
 * It doesn't disqualify it, but we need to find three citations from three different sources. The only other one I can find (I tried searching for e.g. Shanghai + coaster + sex) is also referring the same film: 1993, Gina Marchetti, Romance and the "yellow peril" page 59: "In Shanghai Express ... Lily has become a "coaster," a vamp who travels along the China coast looking for men to victimize". So was this word only used in one film? If not, can you show us anywhere else it was used? Equinox ◑ 03:26, 9 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Two...don't forget Van Wyck Mason. That means I need only one more, and I've got, what, four and a half days to find it? And how comes -sche isn't participating in this discussion...he nommed it, and then left, leaving me to do all the work.  May I suggest searching "China" instead of "sex".  Oh, and to weed out references to roller coaster, exclude "roller coaster"?  Purplebackpack89  (Notes Taken) (Locker) 03:54, 9 October 2011 (UTC)

RFV failed; deleted. &#x200b;—msh210℠ (talk) 23:17, 20 November 2011 (UTC)