“Spend like drunken sailors” (“Spend like a drunken sailor”)
"Spend money like drunken sailors" (or "spend money like a drunken sailor") means to have few fiscal constraints, or to spend money freely. In the 1700s and 1800s, sailors were…
“That’s the way the cookie crumbles”
"That's the way the cookie crumbles" (also "that's how the cookie crumbles") means that even a good thing (a cookie) sometimes breaks apart. A similar expression…
“Hot enough to fry an egg on the sidewalk”
"It's so hot," runs the expression, "that you can fry an egg on the sidewalk!" New York City has plenty of sidewalks. Is it ever possible to fry an egg on one? A…
Birch Beer
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Birch beerBirch beer is a carbonated soft drink made from herbal extracts, usually from birch bark. It has a taste similar to root beer, with a slightly minty…
Grandma Pizza (Grandma Slice)
Entry in progress -- B.P. A "grandpa pizza"/"grandpa slice" is sometimes sold, but there are no standard ingredients for this. Wikipedia: PizzaNew York-style pizza is a style…
Lady Baltimore Cake (Lord Baltimore Cake)
The Lady Baltimore cake was popularized by the Owen Wister (1860-1938) novel Lady Baltimore (1906). Wister's novel took place in fictional Kingsport, a substitute name for Charleston, South…
Marble Cake
Marble cake (cake with light and dark swirls) has unknown origins. It's first cited in print in an Illinois newspaper of 1859; in 1863, it was mentioned at the Illlinois State Fair, by a woman…
Half-and-Half Pizza
A "half-and-half" pizza (also sometimes called a "split" pie) is a pizza with different toppings on each half. For example, one half could have a pepperoni topping and the other…
Sicilian Pizza
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Sicilian pizzaSicilian pizza, also known as Sfincione (or Sfinciuni in Sicilian language) is a variety of pizza with ingredients sometimes incorporated into the…
Busboy or Bus Boy (“busing” tables)
The "busboy" (also "bus-boy" and "bus boy") does many tasks at a restaurant, such as cleaning dirty dishes off the table, setting the table, filling diners' water…
Root Beer
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Root beerRoot beer, also known as sarsaparilla, is a carbonated beverage (or possibly a type of beer) originally created from sassafras. Root beer, popularized…
Mother Merrill (Merrill Lynch nickname)
The Merrill Lynch brokerage firm was affectionately called "Mother Merrill" by its employees. "Mother" Merrill Lynch trained its brokers and treated them well, frowning on any…
Alexander/Gin Alexander/Brandy Alexander/Coffee Alexander (cocktail)
New York columnist Walter Winchell explained the origin of the Alexander cocktail in his column on March 21, 1929. Rector's (a famous New York eatery before Prohibition) was having a dinner…
Baking Powder
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia; Baking powderBaking powder is a dry chemical leavening agent used in cooking, mainly baking. It is most often found in quick breads like pancakes, waffles, and…
Baking Soda
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Sodium bicarbonateSodium bicarbonate or sodium hydrogen carbonate is the chemical compound with the formula NaHCO3. Sodium bicarbonate is a white solid that is…
Cracker Jack (Crackerjack)
Cracker Jack is the famous product with, as the jingle has it, "candy-coated popcorn, peanuts and a prize." Coated popcorn (with sugar and/or molasses) is cited from at least 1888.…
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money”
“A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money” This phrase about government expenditures has become a classic, but who said it first, and when? Everett Dirksen…
“No good deed goes unpunished (in Washington)”
"No good deed goes unpunished" is a humorous reverse of the classical "No good deed goes unrewarded. No bad deed goes unpunished." Clare Boothe Luce (1903-1987) is often…
“In the red” (loss) & “In the black” (profit); Red Ink & Black Ink
"In the red" means that a business entity is experiencing losses; "in the black" means profits or gains. Accounting ledgers used red ink and black ink for accounting entries.…
Soup-and-Fish (a dinner suit)
"Soup and fish" was a traditional first course in the formal dinners of the 19th century. "Soup and fish" (also "soup-and-fish") also became a nickname for a…