Theatre of the Absurd (Theater of the Absurd)
The term "Theatre of the Absurd" (also "Theater of the Absurd") comes from an essay with that title, by Martin Esslin (1918-2002), in The Tulane Drama Review (May 1960). Esslin…
New York City
Theatre of the Absurd, 2005
This is how it's been for about ten years now:... ...4 March 2005, Tulsa World, "Historical facts," pg. A18:"The big what?" (Feb. 25) about the new campaign by New York…
Theft by Cop (civil asset forfeiture)
Police often take a person's property (such as cash, a car and even a house) on the suspicion of a crime -- although frequently no criminal charges are ever filed. Many critics have argued…
Themhattan (them + Manhattan)
"Themhattan" (them + Manhattan) is a jocular name to get the "man" out of the borough of "Manhattan." "I am offended by this. It should clearly by Theyhattan or…
ThemTube (YouTube nickname)
YouTube is an American video-sharing website that began in February 2005. In November 2006, Google purchased YouTube. Those who have criticized Google's operation of YouTube (such as issues of…
There are many apples on the tree, but when you pick NYC, you pick the Big Apple (1975)
The New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, led by president Charles Gillett (1915-1995), re-popularized the term "Big Apple" with its advertising campaign in the 1970s. In May 1975,…
There’s a sucker born every minute (NY gambler slang, but not P. T. Barnum)
"There's a sucker born every minute" has been attached to showman P. T. Barnum, but a detailed examination of everything he ever wrote has failed to produce the phrase. He either…
Theyhattan (they + Manhattan)
"Theyhattan" (they + Manhattan) is a jocular name to get the "man" out of the borough of "Manhattan." "I am offended by this. It should clearly by Theyhattan or…
TheyTube (YouTube nickname)
YouTube is an American video-sharing website that began in February 2005. In November 2006, Google purchased YouTube. Those who have criticized Google's operation of YouTube (such as issues of…
Thieves’ Alley (5 Norfolk Street)
"Thieves' Alley" was a criminal area located at 5 Norfolk Street. It was destroyed in the 1890s to create Mulberry Bend Park, now known as Columbus Park. "Thieves'…
Thieves’ Lair (Longacre Square/Times Square)
The Longacre Square area of Manhattan -- called Times Square since 1904 -- didn't have theatres in the 1880s and early 1890s. The crime-ridden area was known as the "Thieves'…
Thieves’ Market (between Delancey and Houston Streets in Manhattan)
There was a Manhattan market between Delancey and Houston Streets that sold items often of questionable ownership. The WPA Guide to New York City (1939) stated: "The stretch between Delancey…
Things Which I Type That Everyone Reads (“Twitter” backronym)
Twitter, an online social networking service, is not an acronym, although many backronyms (back acronyms) have been made ending in "that everyone reads." "TWITTER = Texting What I…
Think Regress or ThinkRegress (Think Progress nickname)
Think Progress is a blog from the progressive think tank, Center for American Progress. Critics of Think Progress have dubbed it "Think Regress" (or "ThinkRegress") since at…
Thinspiration (thin + inspiration)
Entry in progress -- B.P. Urban DictionaryThinspiration The inspiration people have to become skinny usually archives of skinny sometimes emaciated people.My thinspiration is Paris Hilton!by Izzy E…
Thinspo (thin + inspiration)
Entry in progress -- B..P. Urban Dictionarythinspo Abbreviation for "thinsporation," aka pictures of bone-thin women that girls with ana/mia use to remind themselves of their goals to…
Third Avenue Guy (Wall Streeter working in a less important location on Third Avenue)
A March 14, 2012 New York (NY) Times "Dealbook" article explained: "A 'Third Avenue guy' is someone on Wall Street who is not smart enough to work for a company with…
Third Coast
The United States has an east coast and a west coast, but it's sometimes said to have a "third coast." In the 1960s and 1970s, the "third coast" was the Great Lakes region…
Third Degree
"The thrid degree" was the punishment the police inflicted on a prisoner to procure a confession. It was officially made illegal in the early part of the 1900s. The third degree is the…
Third Smallest Town in Texas (fictitious Tuna, Texas slogan)
The fictitious town of Tuna, Texas is the "Third Smallest Town in Texas." Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard wrote a comic trilogy to Tuna, Texas: Greater Tuna (1981), A Tuna…