The Ugly American was actually ugly, but he was a whiz with low-tech pumps, which is how we found himself in Sarkhan helping out the locals and eventually being targeted by the Communists.* Later, in some kind of Bugs Bunny nimrod inversion, the phrase got applied to annoying tourists.
*Yeah, I read that book growing up as a service brat during Vietnam. It was a best-seller back when that was actually a mark of quality.
The Ugly American was actually ugly, but he was a whiz with low-tech pumps, which is how we found himself in Sarkhan helping out the locals and eventually being targeted by the Communists.* Later, in some kind of Bugs Bunny nimrod inversion, the phrase got applied to annoying tourists.
*Yeah, I read that book growing up as a service brat during Vietnam. It was a best-seller back when that was actually a mark of quality.