Billy Goat Date Cake (Billy Goat Cookies)
"Billy Goats" are date cookies or date cakes. Some versions claim that the name comes from a time when a woman put the dish on a window sill to cool -- where it was eaten by the…
New York City
BIN (Born In Nacogdoches)
Nacogdoches is a small town; people who were born there take pride in their identity. "BIN" stands for "Born In Nacogdoches," cited in print from at least 1999. The city of…
Binghamton, Johnson City, Endicott: Triple Cities
Several cities have been called "Twin Cities." Columbus (GA), Phenix City (AL) and Girard (AL) were called 'Triple Cities" by at least the 1890s. The western New York cities of…
Binghamton: Bingo (nickname)
The city of Binghamton, New York, is sometimes nicknamed "Bingo." Most likely, the nickname is derived from the "bing" in the name "Binghamton." Binghamton had a…
Binghamton: Carousel Capital of the World (nickname)
Binghamton, in Broome County, New York, is called the "Carousel Capital of the World." George F. Johnson (1857-1948), a shoe manufacturer in the Triple Cities area, donated six carousels…
Binghamton: Parlor City (nickname)
Binghamton, the county seat of Broome County, New York, has had the nickname "Parlor City" since August 13, 1873, when the Scranton (PA) Daily Times called Binghamton the "Parlor…
Binghamton: Spiedie
The "spiedie" is an Endicott-Binghamton specialty, brought to the area by immigrants from Italy. The "spiedi" or "spiedie" (pronounced "speedy") began with…
Binghamton: Valley of Opportunity (nickname)
Many places have advertised themselves as a "Valley of Opportunity." Bitterroot Valley, in southwestern Montana, advertised that it was a "Valley of Opportunity" in 1907.…
Bingo (game)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Bingo (U.S.)Bingo is a game of chance played with different randomly drawn numbers which players match against numbers that have been pre-printed on 5×5…
Biocrat (biology + bureaucrat)
"Biocracy" (biology + -cracy) was coined in 1933 by Dr. William Bradford Cannon (1871-1945) of Harvard Medical School. According to an article in the February 10, 1933 Harvard Crimson,…
Biostitute (biologist + prostitute)
A "biostitute" (biologist + prostitute) is a person who works for an industry such as Big Ag (agriculture), Big Oil, Big Pharma (pharmaceuticals) or Big Tobacco and is paid to defend the…
Bir Zeit on the Hudson (Columbia University)
Columbia University has become known for outspoken professors, many of whom are agressively anti-American and anti-Israel. "Bir Zeit on the Hudson" has become (to some critics) a nickname…
Birch Beer
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Birch beerBirch beer is a carbonated soft drink made from herbal extracts, usually from birch bark. It has a taste similar to root beer, with a slightly minty…
Bird Circuit (Manhattan gay bars with bird names)
The "bird circuit" of gay bars existed in Manhattan, along Third Avenue around the lower East 50s, after World War II. The bars had such names as the Blue Parrot (on East 53rd Street),…
Birdie (golf score)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Wikipedia: Par (score)BirdieBirdie means scoring one under par (−1). This expression was coined in 1899, at the Atlantic City Country Club in Northfield, New Jersey. It…
Birding Capital of East Texas (Mineola nickname)
Mineola (near Dallas) was declared the "Birding Capital of East Texas" by the Texas Legislature in 2003. The Mineola Nature Preserve is a new park that the town hopes will attract…
Birdseed or Bird Seed (children’s trail mix)
Birdseed (also written as "bird seed") is a mixture of seeds used to feed birds. By World War I, "birdseed" was used as slang (especially military canteen slang) for cereal that…
Birkenstock Liberal
Birkenstock is a brand name of sandals and other shoes; they became popular in the United States in the 1990s. The term "Birkenstock (-wearing) liberal" became popular in 2003, when…
Birther or Birfer (presidential citizenship skeptic)
Only a natural born citizen can become the president of the United States. President Barack Obama had a father from Kenya and some people believed that Obama was born in Kenya, making him…
Birthplace of Jazz (New Orleans nickname)
The word "jazz" has been cited in baseball in Los Angeles, Californina, in 1912 and in San Francisco, California, in 1913. The term went to Chicago (probably by Bert Kelly) in 1914, and…