Investigating the origins of American words, names, quotations and phrases. Over 41,000 entries.
In the 1980s, Pace picante sauce- ran a series of commercials touting its native southwest appeal. Another salsa was from - horrors! -- New York City! The popular advertising campaign was revived…
"Texas Toast" comes from Texas, right? Or New York? Or Ohio? "Texas Toast" is that big chunk of bread, dipped in butter and sprinkled with garlic, that's usually eaten with…
Quick, where is the Broadway Diner located? Lexington Avenue, of course. It began in the 1980s and used to be located at Broadway and West 55th Street - just a block away from "Big Apple…
"Forest City" was an early Cleveland nickname. It is seldom used today (if at all). 5 March 1851, Ohio Repository (Canton, Ohio), pg. 2?, col. 2:The Queen City and the Forest City -…
From "Cleveland Caught in Long Decline" in the New York Times, 13 November 1978, pg. 1, cols.2-3: The best location in the nation" was the way the Cleveland Electric Illuminating…
"Best Location in the Nation" was soon ridiculed with "Mistake by/on the Lake." This nickname was popular in CB slang in the 1970s, during Cleveland's fiscal crisis. These…
"New York may be the Big Apple, but Cleveland's a Plum" (occasionally, "The Big Plum") was meant to answer Cleveland's fiscal crisis in the 1970s, just as "the…
In the 1970s, just as "the Big Apple" became popular for New York, "the Big Orange" was sometimes used for Los Angeles or the state of California. "Big Orange" was…
"Minneapolis" actually means the "city of lakes" or "city of waters." However, it sounds like it means "mini-apples." After "the Big Apple" became…
Manhattan, Kansas was incorporated in 1857. It compares to Manhattan, in New York City, only in name. After "the Big Apple" became famous in the 1970s, the Manhattan, Kansas Chamber of…
Chicago's wind is called "Hawkins," or "The Hawk." The origin of the name is a mystery, but one thing is certain: it didn't originate in Chicago. Random House…
"Arthur Murray Taught Me Dancing in a Hurry" was a novelty song by Johnny Mercer (lyrics) and Victor Schertzinger (music). It was sung by Betty Hutton in the film The Fleet's In…
New York is a "blue state." Very blue. Very Democratic. The Republican party has won the last two presidential elections. "New York is not America" is a timely, apt cliche.…
New York City has a Museum of Sex. Not only did we give the world the "hooker," but we also started "strip tease." "Strip tease" grew out of burlesque, about…
Disaster struck New Orleans in August 2005 from Hurricane Katrina. "No Orleans" has been used by some. Other New Orleans nicknames include "America's Most Interesting…
"The City That Care Forgot" is a somewhat forgotten nickname of New Orleans. The nickname has long been associated with the New Orleans Mardi Gras and was first cited in 1910. "The…
"The Big Easy" (a nickname of New Orleans, Louisiana) was the name of dance hall in Gretna that burned in 1911, and then, with a gap of over 40 years, appeared in newspapers in the 1950s.…
"Made in New York" is the campaign, actively promoted in 2004, by the Mayor's Office of Film, Theatre & Broadcasting to promote New York City as a "Hollywood on the…
Hammacher Schlemmer is today probably better known for its web site and its mail order business than for its store on 57th Street, between Lexington and Third Avenues. Its web site says:…
"The Most New York You Can Get" was, briefly in the 1990s, a slogan for the New York Daily News. It was never an official slogan such as "New York's Picture Newspaper" or…