Hồ Chí Minh – No. 421

Hồ Chí Minh was a Vietnamese Marxist-Leninist revolutionary leader who was prime minister (1945-1955) and president (1945-1969) of the communist-governed Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was a key figure in the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War. He was born on this day in 1890.

“Ho Chi Minh” is a phrase my dad and his brothers use as an exclamation of fatigue or surprise (or after a particularly violent sneeze). The phrase “L.A.” (which is derived from “Lord Almighty,” I believe) has a similar connotation in their vernacular.