“I’d rather have four quarters than a hundred pennies”
Entry in progress -- B.P. Google BooksThe Blue And Silver Shark: A Biker's Story: (Book 5 in the Series)By Edward Winterhalder and Marc TeatuJenison, MI: Blockhead City Inc.2015Pg. ?:He had…
Archive for 12/2015
“Buy sheep, sell deer”
"Buy cheap, sell dear" is a popular proverb from the 16h century. Through jocular malapropism, this saying becomes "buy sheep, sell deer." The following joke was cited in print…
“The purpose of NATO is to keep the Americans in, the Russians out and the Germans down”
Lord Ismay (1887-1965), who was the first Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) from 1952 to 1957. supposedly said that NATO's purpose was to "keep the…
“Distrust every enterprise that requires new clothes”
"Distrust every enterprise that requires new clothes" is a paraphrase of what American author Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) wrote in Walden: or Life in the Woods (1854): "I say,…
Airpocalypse (air + apocalypse)
"Airpocalypse" (air + apocalypse) is a term that was coined in January 2013 to describe China's air pollution problem. The "airpocalypse" term has been used in India and in…
Cat Alley (Cannon Street)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Google BooksReport of the Council of Hygiene and Public Health of the Citizens Association of Nrw York Upon the Sanitary Condition of the CityNew York, NY: D, Appleton and…
Muspandering (Muslim + pandering)
"Muspandering" (Muslim + pandering) was coined in December 2015 by Mark Robinson MP, LNP State Member for Cleveland, Queensland (Australia). The politically charged term has had limited…
“If the safety’s on, you’re good as gone”
The American adult animated sitcom South Park aired a program about guns on December 9, 2015, titled "PC Principal: Final Justice." Jim-Bob, a gun salesman, told customers in his gun…
“It’s no long a question of staying healthy; it’s finding a sickness you like”
Comedian Jackie Mason (who grew up in New York City) said about growing older and staying healthy: "It's no longer a question of staying healthy. It's a question of finding a…
Clinton News Network (CNN nickname)
Cable News Network (CNN) began in 1980 as the first all-news television channel. Some critics of CNN have claimed that the network is biased and favors the politicians Bill Clinton and Hillary…
Heartbreak Hotel (Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel)
The Ramada Plaza JFK Hotel (at JFK Airport) was called "Heartbreak Hotel" (also the title of a 1956 Elvis Presley song) in July 1996, when it housed grieving family members of those who…
Little Uzbekistan (Midwood, Brooklyn)
When the Soviet Union broke up in the 1990s, many people from the Soviet satellite countries moved to New York City, especially to Brooklyn. Midwood and Kensington acquired the name "Little…
Little Paris; Little France (Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn)
Brroklyn became gentrified in the 1990s, and many French speakers settled in Carroll Gardens (formerly known as an Italian neighborhood). "The Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood that was once an…
Robe-itis
"Robe-itis" (or "black robe-itis") is an affliction suffered by some robed judges. A person can put on a robe and assume a god-like attitude and power, forgetting that he or she…
“Knowledge speaks, but wisdom listens”
American poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809=1894) wrote in The Poet at the Breakfast-Table (1872): "It is the province of knowledge to speak, and it is the privilege of wisdom to…
“There is only one fruitcake—it just keeps getting sent around”
Americans send each other fruitcake over the Christmas holiday season, but does anyone ever eat it? In 1978, American humorist and food writer Calvin Trillin said that someone in Denver once told…
“The best way to cook fish is to have a slow waiter walk it through a hot kitchen”
Some diners insist that food not be overly cooked. There is an old saying that the best way to cook fish (or meat) is to put it in a plate and have a slow waiter walk it through a hot kitchen. The…
Gingerbread House (Bay Ridge, Brooklyn)
The "Gingerbread House" (also called the "Hansel and Gretel Cottage" or "House of the Seven Dwarfs"), at 8220 Narrows Avenue and 83rd Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn,…
“The shortest book in the world is called ‘Great Jewish Sports Heroes’”
Jewish people, allegedly, are not good at sports. A popular Jewish joke is: Q: What's the world's thinnest book? A: "Great Jewish Athletes." The joke has been cited since at…
Crowler (can + growler)
A "growler" is a term for a pail of beer, made popular in New York City bars in the 1880s. A young person would be sent to "rush the growler" (that is, bring home some beer).…