Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases.
This saying goes way, way back. It has been said in various forms; a friend of mine remembers the boxer Sonny Liston saying that he'd rather be a lamppost in Harlem than mayor of Philadelphia.…
The Bronx cocktail was invented around 1900. An article in February 1901 credited "J. E. O'Connor of the Waldorf-Astoria, inventor of the 'Bronx Cocktail.'" A 1932 article…
"Ambulance chaser" is another derogatory term for a lawyer (see also the 1840s term"shyster"). An "ambulance chaser" preys on accident victims to sign them up to…
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus bills itself as "The Greatest Show on Earth." Trademark records show a first use on July 21, 1891. New York City-born entertainer Dan…
"Fugeddaboutit" is not in Irving Lewis Allen's City in Slang (1993). I remember its use in a popular 1990s radio ad for Tops Appliance City. The Works Progress Administration in the…
Wall Street (the financial capital of the United States) is, according to the old saying, "between a river and a graveyard" -- the East River and Trinity Church Cemetery. The comment has…
In 1991, "Big Onion" Walking Tours started in New York City. I keep thinking they have the wrong city. Chicago is often called the "big onion" because some people think…
The word "skycap," like "scofflaw," entered the language as a contest winner. Willie Wainwright, of New Orleans, won $100 in 1940 for his suggestion of "skycap" for…
An "egg cream" contains neither eggs nor cream. The usual contents are seltzer, chocolate syrup (Fox's U-bet), and milk. The egg cream has been described as a chocolate soda without…
"Manhattan clam chowder" is the chowder with tomatoes. "New England clam chowder" is the common name for chowder without tomatoes. Some say that "Manhattan" clam…
Aqueduct racetrack is popularly known as "the Big A." Clark Whelton (a former writer for the Village Voice and member of the mayor's communications office) told me that he believed…
The Amazin' New York Mets, or simply the "Amazins," has been a popular nickname through the baseball team's existence. The nickname was created before they played a single…
"Don't buy the Brooklyn Bridge!" This classic piece of advise is given to visitors to New York City. In the early years of this century, people were swindled. I'd like to add…
One of the popular New York City myths is that the slang term "twenty-three skidoo" comes from the Flatiron Building at Twenty-Third Street and Broadway/Fifth Avenue. Tourist buses pass…
Several places in the United States and Canada, pre-1920, were known as the "Land of the Big (Red) Apple." Oregon was one of the first; others include Missouri, Colorado, Washington, and…
It is sometimes claimed that "Big Apple" comes from the Spanish, "manzana principal," the "apple" or block of a city. "The word manzana, so frequently used at…
Harlem's jazz musicans did undeniably help spread the "Big Apple" phrase in the 1930s, but did not originate it. The Big Apple night club, at Seventh Avenue and West 135th Street,…
The Big Apple dance craze of 1937 popularized the "Big Apple" term, but didn't originate it. New York (NY) Morning Telegraph track writer John J. Fitz Gerald (1893-1963) had been…
A 1909 citation by Harper's editor Edward Sandford Martin (1856-1939) is often given as the first citation of "the Big Apple" to mean New York City. It probably shouldn't be…
The "Big Apple" whore hoax was invented by Peter Salwen's web site in 1995. A president of Salwen's group, the Society for New York City History (SNYCH), has admitted to me that…