An etymological dictionary

Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 38,000 entries.

Brooklyn-Queens Day

"Brooklyn-Queens Day" is best known simply as a day off school. It originally celebrated the birth of Brooklyn's Sunday School Union in early 1800s. The day was also known as…

Taste of the Nation Brooklyn

Brooklyn is part of Share Our Strength's annual "Taste of the Nation" fundraising festival. http://www.gothamist.com/June 13: Taste of the Nation BrooklynGet a taste of the finest…

Solo Arts Festival

The Solo Arts Festival (by terraNOVA Collective) is a new annual event of readings, music and more. http://www.terranovacollective.org/SoloArtsFestival.phpJune 8-25Center Stage, NY48 West 21st…

Corporate Challenge

The Corporate Challenge began in 1977; it was sponsored by Manufacturers Hanover, but is now sponsored by JP Morgan Chase. The 3.5-mile race has grown in popularity and now takes place on two days.…

Big Crapple

For those who think "the Big Apple" is a load of crap, there's always "the Big Crapple." http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxvi/12.4.98/ae/1999.htmlThe Big Crapple?…

Sugar Daddy

In 1923, Dorothy Keenan King (a New York model) was found chloroformed to death in her New York City apartment. She had called John Kearsley Mitchell her "heavy sugar daddy." It is…

Orphan Train

The "orphan trains" operated from about 1850-1929, sponsored by the Children's Aid Society and other societies. The trains moved children from the slums of New York City to the…

Tour de Brooklyn

Transportation Alternatives' "Tour de Brooklyn" is a new annual bicycling event. It's not the Tour de France, but it's not meant to be that.…

Little Kingston; Little Jamaica

"Little Jamaica" is used infrequently, although New York City has many immigrants from Jamaica. "Little Kingston" (after Kingston, Jamaica's capital city) is even less…

Coffee Regular

Today, a coffee in New York City is Starbucks. However, some insist that "true" New Yorkers have a "coffee regular" that includes milk and sugar. The Mother Tongue: English…

G-Slope (Gowanus + Park Slope)

For those who prefer to be in Park Slope and not really Gowanus, there's now "G-Slope." Not everyone likes "G-Slope" as a neighborhood nickname, perhaps because it reminds…