Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 41,000 entries.
An old saying of Washington, D.C., is that a politician or a bureaucrat "came to do good and stayed to do well." In other words, the individual came to do good (for others), but stayed to…
"Hatriot" (hate + patriot) was used in the 1990s by football fans deriding the NFL's New England Patriots. The term became popular in 2004 and especially during the "tea…
The term "gliberal" (glib + liberal) has had a long -- though infrequent -- usage. Newspaper columnist Walter Winchell used "gliberal" in 1947; Averell Harriman used…
A "glibertarian" (glib + libertarian) is someone who professes libertarian views of limited government, but who actually supports government programs in practice. A…
Conservatives have long claimed a liberal media bias in the United States. President Richard Nixon often complained about the liberal media, and he made enemies in the press from 1972 until his…
The Daily Kos is a progressive political blog, founded in 2002 by Markos Moulitsas. The blog gets its name from the second syllable of the name "Markos." Critics of the blog have called…
Think Progress is a blog from the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress. Critics of Think Progress have dubbed it "Stink Progress" (or "StinkProgress") since at…
The Huffington Post (often shortened to "Huff Po" or "HuffPo") was started on May 9, 2005, by Arianna Huffington and others. The website features liberal/progressive news and…
The Huffington Post was started on May 9, 2005, by Arianna Huffington and others. The website features liberal/progressive news and opinion. Website nicknames came quickly. Many newspapers named…
"I never got a job from a poor man/person" has been a popular conservative saying. The saying means that people who have money are job creators, and that overtaxing them and…
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Weather Underground (organization)Weatherman, known colloquially as the Weathermen and later the Weather Underground Organization (abbreviated WUO), was an…
New York Giants second baseman "Laughing" Larry Doyle (1886-1974) is credited with originating the saying "It's great to be young and a (New York) Giant." Some baseball…
New York Yankee baseball player Reggie Jackson's comments in Sport magazine from May 1977 angered other Yankees, such as catcher Thurman Munson. Jackson was quoted as saying: "it all…
New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (1930-2010) bought the team in 1973 and returned the Yankees to glory years of World Series championships. Steinbrenner often compared the Yankees to the…
Greenwood Heights, Brooklyn is located near the communities of Sunset Park and South Park Slope (or South Slope). The neighborhood nickname "Sun Slope" (Sunset Park + South Park Slope)…
The United States capital of Washington, District of Columbia ("DC"), has been nicknamed the "District of Confusion" since at least 1943. The "District of Confusion"…
The United States capital of Washington, District of Columbia ("DC"), has been nicknamed the "District of Corruption" since at least 1951. The "District of Corruption"…
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikiquote: John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes of Tilton (5 June 1883 – 21 April 1946) was a British economist whose ideas, known as Keynesian…
The Times Square Allience coined the name "Avenue of Architecture" in 2008 for Manhattan's Eighth Avenue, between 40th Street and Columbus Circle. Several skyscrapers had been…
Dodge City, Kansas, was a stop on Texas longhorn cattle drives in the 1800s. The phrase "Get out of Dodge!" comes not from the old West, but from the radio (1952-1961) and television…