Knife & Fork, Bottle & Cork Spell “New York”
"A knife and a fork, a bottle and a cork; that's the way to spell New York" is a popular New York City rhyme that dates back to at least 1910. The children's rhyme was used in…
Archive for 01/2005
Crossword Puzzle
The New York World helped to invent the "cross word puzzle." The New York Times helped to popularize it. American Crossword Puzzle TournamentCrossword puzzles are said to be the most…
Citymeals-on-Wheels; City Harvest
Citymeals-on-Wheels and City Harvest are two programs that delivary food to poor, hugnry New Yorkers. I contributed the 1926 "meals on wheels" citations to the Oxford Englaish Dictionary.…
Bread Line
The "bread line" was one of New York's first and most famous of charities. (Oxford English Dictionary)bread-line (orig. U.S.), (a) a queue of poor people waiting to receive bread or…
“I won’t go to Macy’s any more, more, more” (jump-rope jingle, 1938)
"I won't go to Macy's any more, more, more" is a New York City "jump rope jingle" that involves Macy's department store. It has been cited in print since at least…
Butter-and-Egg Man
"Butter-and-egg man" has long thought to have been coined by nightclub queen Texas Guinan in 1924. She certainly did popularize it. In 1925, The Butter and Egg Man was the title of a…
McGurk’s Suicide Hall (the Bowery)
McGurk's (or McGuirk's) Suicide Hall at 295 Bowery was torn down in 2005. It used to be a saloon and whorehouse. Several women committed suicide while working there in the 1890s, giving…
“The Citi Never Sleeps” (Citibank)
"The Citi never sleeps" is a famous Citibank slogan, borrowing on the New York City nickname, "The City That Never Sleeps." Citibank trademarked its slogan in 1978. 1 June 1978,…
Bloody Angle (Doyers Street)
Doyers Street (in Chinatown) was called "the Bloody Angle" around 1900 because of murders that occurred on the street. The term has long fadded into history, but the angle of Doyers…
Yupper West Side
"Yuppie" (Young Urban Professional) became a national buzzword in 1984. Like many buzzwords, people became tired of its over-use. It's seldom used now. Many yuppies lived on the…
Gracie Mansion
Gracie Mansion is the home of the mayor of New York City. If the mayor desires to live there, that is. Sometimes, the mayor is a billionaire and lives elsewhere....The history of Gracie Mansion is…
98 Nicknames
The largest selection of New York City nicknames (see the other entries in this Nicknames/Slogans category) can be found in Names and Sobriquets of U.S. Cities and States (second edition 1970) by…
Satan’s Circus
Another name for the "Tenderloin" area of Manhattan, just below "Hell's Kitchen," is "Satan's Circus." The term is historical and is not used today, but…
Quisqueya Heights (Washington Heights)
Washington Heights (in upper Manhattan) has so many residents from the Dominican Republic that it is often called "Quisqueya Heights." "Quisqueya" is an informal nickname of the…
Tennis “Bagel”
A "zero" looks like what? A donut? A bagel? In the 1970s, the American tennis players Eddie Dibbs and Harold Solomon were called the "Bagel Twins" or the "Bagel…
“You cannot be serious!” (John McEnroe)
Tennis player John McEnroe spouted this bit of "Queens-ese" at Wimbledon in 1981. Wikipedia: John McEnroeJohn Patrick McEnroe, Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is a former World No. 1…
I’m from Missouri—Show Me (nickname)
Gerald Cohen is a professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla, MO). He started the research on "Big Apple," and he also started the research on "I'm…
Jewish Champagne (Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray Soda, seltzer)
"Jewish champagne" is the nickname for both Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray Soda/Tonic and for seltzer. "Description of celery tonic: Jewish champagne" was printed in the "On…
Dough Nut or Doughnut or Donut; Cruller
New York author Washington Irving has long been cited with the first appearances of the words "dough nut" (now spelled "doughnut" and "donut") and "cruller."…
Rugelach
I found one of the first citations (1941) for "rugelach." This is a difficult food to trace because the names and spelling vary widely.…