“No matter who you vote for, the government always gets in”
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah BandThe Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (also known as The Bonzo Dog Band, The Bonzo Dog Dada Band and, colloquially, as "The Bonzos") are a…
Archive for 06/2010
“If voting changed anything, they’d make it illegal”
Entry in progress -- B.P. [This entry was prepared with the assistance of Garson O'Toole, the Quote Investigator.] Google BooksThe Yale Book of QuotationsEdited by Fred R. ShapiroNew Haven,…
Rightosphere (right blogosphere)
The "rightosphere" is the "right blogosphere," containing blogs of the political right. The term "rightosphere" has been in print since at least May 2005. A similar…
Leftosphere (left blogosphere)
The "lefttosphere" is the "left blogosphere," containing blogs of the political left. The term "leftosphere" has been in print since at least March 2006. A similar…
Launder (money laundering)
To "launder" money is to make "dirty" money (obtained from illegality) "clean." For example, illegal drug money might be "laundered" through a legal…
Piggy Bank
A "piggy bank" is a vessel where money can be inserted; it was originally shaped like a pig, but can be other animals and objects. "Pig bank" is cited in print from 1895 and…
“Eating spaghetti with a spoon”
Most people eat spaghetti with a fork. "Eating spaghetti with a spoon" has come to have a larger meaning in American English, indicating something done using the wrong tool and with great…
Meatloaf (Meat Loaf)
"Meat loaf" is cited in print since at least 1875-1876; "meatloaf" (one word) became a popular spelling since the 1950s. The meatloaf dish -- ground beef shaped into a loaf --…
The Corner (23 Wall Street, at Broad Street)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: 23 Wall Street23 Wall Street or "The Corner" is an office building formerly owned by J.P. Morgan & Co. (later the Morgan Guaranty Trust Company)…
God Box (Interchurch Center)
The Interchurch Center is a 19-story granite-faced building (opened in 1960) at 475 Riverside Drive and West 10th Street in Manhattan. The building is home to many Christian organizations, such as…
Parthenon of Cast Iron (Haughwout Building)
The Haughwout Building, at 488-492 Broadway near Broome Street in Manhattan, was built in 1857 and is a landmark of cast-iron architecture. It was one of the first buildings to have an elevator.…
Dormandie Court or Dormandy Court (Normandie Court)
The Normandie Court (sometimes misspelled as "Normandy") is an apartment complex at 225 East 95th Street in Manhattan. The Normandie was built in the mid-1980s and almost immediately…
Brownstone Belt
Brooklyn is well-known for its brownstone houses, built mostly between 1840 and 1900. The unofficial "brownstone belt" neighborhoods include Brooklyn Heights, Stuyvesant Heights, Fort…
Gunset Park (Sunset Park)
Sunset Park (Brooklyn) had high crime rates in the 1980s and 1990s; a gang named "Gunset" existed in 1995. The Sunset Park nickname of "Gunset Park" appears to date from this…
Destructoporn
"Destructoporn" (or "destructo-porn") is the filming or photographing of the destruction of a building. The building might have had some historic community or personal value, or…
Sinistrosphere (left blogosphere)
"Sinistrosphere" (often misspelled "sinestrosphere") is the politically "left blogosphere." ("Sinistro-" is Latin for "left.") The term…
Dextrosphere (right blogosphere)
"Dextrosphere" is the politically "right blogosphere." ("Dextro-" is Latin for "right.") The term "dextrosphere" has been cited in print since at…
“What gets measured gets managed” (“You can’t manage what you can’t measure”)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Peter DruckerPeter Ferdinand Drucker (November 19, 1909 – November 11, 2005) was a writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.”…
“A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world”
"A happy customer tells a friend; an unhappy customer tells the world" is an old business adage. A happy (or satisfied) customer often doesn't say anything or tells just a few…
“If you can’t bill it, kill it” (“If you can’t bill it, it’s a hobby”)
"If you can't bill it, kill it" means that if it a project won't return paying customers, it's not worth doing. The phrase has been popular in the internet and…