Hanoi Hilton

English

Etymology

From 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

the Hanoi Hilton

1. (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.)