> Well, from the rest of the thread, you can see it is not a NoCal, SoCal, or whatever expression. It's a nation-wide expression, though not an everyday one.
>
> --Jez"homogenized nation"zika

I popped the question at a party tonight, and still NOBODY has heard this expression. The complaint, in fact, was that the expression "treated/beaten like a red-haired stepchild" was (I quote) "racist." I guess we don't hear the expression in places which are highly multicultural. My hometown is one of the most ethnically non-homogenized places in N.America; even the sportscasters seem to have subtly changed the phrase to "slapped down Sacramento, 6-1, like an unwanted stepchild" instead. Curious.