Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 38,000 entries.
Oppenheimer Funds is now owned by the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), but Oppenheimer maintains a presence at Two World Financial Center, 225 Liberty Street.…
The Z-100 (WHTZ) radio station started a "morning zoo" format in the early 1980s with Scott Shannon. Shannon had used a similar format on another station, but Z-100 was called the…
"La Kalle" is the slang Spanish spelling of "la calle" (meaning "the street"). Several Spanish radio stations owned by Univision call themselves "La Kalle."…
LoMo (Lower Morningside Heights) is another new one to the endless stream of neighborhood nicknames. http://dreaminaret.blogspot.com/2006/02/rise-of-soha-and-lomo.htmlWednesday, February 08,…
What hath SoHo wrought? HoHo? http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C05EEDC1F31F933A15752C1A962958260Here's Help for a No-Name Neighborhood Published: November 20, 1994 Two weeks ago…
A "Wisenheimer" (or "wisenheimer") is a "wise guy," a "smarty pants," a "smart aleck" (see "smart aleck" in this section), a fellow…
"Gramurray" or "GraMurray" is a new name (popularized March 2006) for the area between Gramercy Park and Murray Hill.…
"Ride the Rapid" appears to have been the slogan of Staten Island Rapid Transit in the 1950s, but I can't find evidence of it in the historical New York Times.…
A "Medicaid mill" is a health clinic that scams Medicare/Medicaid by running up health costs. The term was popular in the early 1970s. "Medicare mill" is used less often.…
"Holy cow!" is credited to two announcers -- Yankee announcer Phil Rizzuto (1917-2007) and Chicago Cubs announcer Harry Caray (1914-1998). "Holy cow" was used in India, but the…
Tasti D-Lite calls itself "New York's #1 frozen dessert." It's supposed to be low in calories, but testing has shown that it still has plenty of calories (but fewer than ice…
Ricky's sells cosmetics and a little bit of everything that a student would want to spend a night on the town. It's slogan is "Looking Good, Feeling Good." The store was founded…
New York Sports Clubs (or NYSC) was founded in 1989 and now has many New York City locations. "Reveal better" or "bare it better" is a 2006 advertising campaign. MySportsClubs…
"Dormitory Row" is Third Avenue, between St. Mark's Place and 14th Street. The entire area seems to be owned mostly by New York University. The website "Jossip" has called…
Columbia University is an Ivy League college. It is not a member college of the State University of New York. Columbia University is located near Harlem. "SUNY-Harlem" is a recent,…
Macy's Flower Show has been a spring tradition for over thirty years. However, Macy's had given flower shows much earlier than this.…
"No jacket, no tie, no attitude" is the slogan of The Mark, a hotel at 25 East 77th Street. Most of the hotel guests wear clothes, however.…
The Pepe Rosso chain of restaurants (Pepe Giallo is at 253 Tenth Avenue) offers old-fashioned Italian food at reasonable prices. The motto is: "No diet Coke, no skim milk, no decaf coffee --…
Schnack, at 122 Union Street in Brooklyn, offers a simple menu. Its motto is simple, too: "Hot dogs, cold beer -- it's not complicated."…
The New York Post quickly dubbed Julie Diaco the "Pot Princess." She's the former NYU student who was convicted of selling drugs out of her dorm room. Her family paid for a very good…