Shadyville (Queens Village, Queens)
"Shadyville" is a rap nickname for Mid-Eastern Queens, usually Queens Village but sometimes Hollis. "Shadyville" has been cited in print since at least 1995. Wikipedia: Queens…
Little Norway (Sunset Park, Brooklyn)
"Little Norway," in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, was a popular area for immigrants from Norway in the 1880s and 1890s, but it's barely recognizable as "Little Norway"…
“My way or the highway”
"My way or the highway" is a management style that means things are done the way that person says things are done, or people can hit the highway and get out. The expression…
Grand Obstructionist Party (Grand Old Party or GOP nickname)
"Grand Obstructionist Party" is a nickname for the "Grand Old Party" or "GOP" -- the Republican party -- used by those who believe that the Republicans are…
FisCon (Fiscal Conservative)
"FisCon" (or "fiscon") is a "fiscal conservative." "FisCon" has been cited in print since at least 2005 and was popularized in late 2007 and in 2008,…
SoCon (Social Conservative)
"SoCon" (or "socon") is a "social conservative." "SoCon" has been cited in print since at least 1999 and has been a popular term in Canada. The United States…
Battle for the Iron Skillet (SMU Mustangs vs. TCU Horned Frogs)
The Battle for the Iron Skillet is the football game between the Southern Methodist University Mustangs and the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs. The first game was played in 1915. A skillet…
Battle of the Brazos (Baylor Bears vs. Texas A&M Aggies)
Baylor University (in Waco) and Texas A&M University (in College Station) have played each other in football since 1899, but the game didn't always have a special name. The Brazos River…
“The chicken is the only animal we eat before it’s born and after it’s dead”
"The chicken is the only animal we eat before it's born and after it's dead" is a joke (or saying) that's been used from vaudeville days. Forms of the joke have been cited…
“A hand up, not a handout”
"A hand up, not a handout" is a political saying, most popular with conservatives. Government handouts are often associated with income redistribution from earners to non-earners. "A…
“Vote with your fork”
"Vote with your fork" (or "Voting with your fork") appears to have been coined by the Boston-based nonprofit organization Oldways Preservation and Exchange Trust in the 1990s. A…
“If past history is all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians”
"If past history is all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians" is one of the sayings of American investor Warren Buffett. It's another way of stating the…
Fourth Reich (Washington Heights)
Washington Heights, in Manhattan, had many German immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s. The neighborhood was nicknamed "das vierte Reich" ("the Fourth Reich") from about 1937.…
Frankfurt on the Hudson (Washington Heights)
Washington Heights, in Manhattan, had many German immigrants in the 1930s and 1940s. The neighborhood was nicknamed "Frankfurt on the Hudson" (cited in print from only the 1980s).…
“There are no lost causes because there are no gained causes”
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965) wrote in 1929: "If we take the widest and wisest view of a Cause, there is no such thing as a Lost Cause because there is no such thing as a Gained Cause. We fight for…
“Lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for”
The actor Jimmy Stewart played Jefferson Smith in the film Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939), saying these now-famous lines: "I guess this is just another lost cause, Mr. Paine. All you…
“A pie doesn’t grow through its slicing”
The popular book A Random Walk Down Wall Street (1999) stated: "These studies lend support to the old Wall Street maxim, 'A pie doesn't grow through its slicing.'" A pie…
“Time is the friend of stocks, the enemy of bonds”
"Time is the friend of stocks, the enemy of bonds" has been cited in print since at least 2008 and is of unknown origin. The saying includes the word "time," but probably means…
No-Park Slope (Park Slope)
Park Slope is a neighborhood in western Brooklyn. Street parking is so scarce that it's been nicknamed "No-Park Slope" (or "No Park Slope") since at least 2007. Wikipedia:…
“A lost opportunity is better than lost money” (“Missed money is better than lost money”)
"A lost opportunity is better than lost money" has been cited in print since at least 1919. The saying means that the lost opportunity may (or may not) have gained money, but it's…