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December 18, 2005
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Broadway (So Many People)” (2005)

"Broadway (So Many People)" is from The Great Destroyer by Low. The December 15, 2005 New York Post's "Best Songs to Download from 2005" ranked this song #1, stating:…

December 4, 2004
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Broadway Baby” (1971)

"Broadway Baby" was written for the 1971 Stephen Sondheim musical Follies. The musical was not a big success when it first debuted, but it has been successfully revived several times. The…

January 24, 2013
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Brooklyn Zoo” (1995)

"Brooklyn Zoo" is a single from the album Return to the 36 Chambers (1995) by hip-hop artist Ol' Dirty Bastard (1968-2004) -- the Brooklyn-born Russell Tyrone Jones. There is a…

April 6, 2005
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?” (1932)

Say, don't you remember they called me Al,It was Al all the time.Why don't you remember, I'm your pal --Buddy, can you spare a dime? "Brother, can you spare a dime?"…

February 3, 2012
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Business was so bad they were shooting deer in the balcony” (Broadway saying)

"Business was so bad they were shooting deer in the balcony" is an old Broadway saying. The actor George Jessel (1898-1981) said this in 1928 to describe the immense proportions of the…

December 14, 2022
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Busy, blessed and booked”

"Booked and blessed" is the dream of every performer. The saying (sometimes as "busy, booked & blessed," "booked, busy & blessed" and other variations) has…

December 14, 2022
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Busy, booked and blessed”

"Booked and blessed" is the dream of every performer. The saying (sometimes as "busy, booked & blessed," "booked, busy & blessed" and other variations) has…

November 27, 2015
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Can we talk?” (Joan Rivers comic catchphrase)

"Can we talk?" was the catchphrase of Brooklyn-born comedian Joan Rivers (1933-2014). The saying meant that she was going to talk frankly, honestly, and, of course, with brutal humor.…

March 10, 2021
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Can you strangle a mime with a cordless phone?”

Many people hate mimes. "I just strangled a mime with a cordless phone" was posted on Twitter by Jason Maybe on January 22, 2011. "I just strangled a mime.... With a cordless…

July 19, 2024
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/CircusTransportation

“Car rides by yourself with loud music are good for the soul”

"Car rides by yourself with loud music are good for the soul" (or "Car rides by yourself with loud music are so therapeutic") is a saying that has been printed on many images.…

July 19, 2024
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/CircusTransportation

“Car rides by yourself with loud music are so therapeutic”

"Car rides by yourself with loud music are good for the soul" (or "Car rides by yourself with loud music are so therapeutic") is a saying that has been printed on many images.…

July 19, 2024
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/CircusTransportation

“Car rides by yourself with loud music be so therapeutic”

"Car rides by yourself with loud music are good for the soul" (or "Car rides by yourself with loud music are so therapeutic") is a saying that has been printed on many images.…

February 27, 2005
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Chelsea Morning” (1969)

"Chelsea Morning" was written by Joni Mitchell and recorded by Mitchell and (more popularly) Judy Collins in 1969. Today, the song is famous for being the first name of Chelsea Clinton,…

December 6, 2022
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Chew the scenery” (to overact)

Wiktionary: chew the sceneryEtymologyIts earliest reference is listed in the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang as being used by Mary Hallock Foote in Coeur D'Alene in…

November 18, 2015
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Church is never out until they stop singing”

"Church is never out until they stop singing" is another way of saying "It ain't over 'til it's over." "As long as the organ is playing church is not…

June 12, 2018
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Cinema means sin and enema”

"Cinema," for those who dislike the movies, is a word that combines "sin" and "enema." The book I Lost My Heart in Hollywood: Diary of a Dick (2011) by Will Veharo…

March 7, 2018
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Clapping is just repeatedly high-fiving yourself over someone else’s achievement”

"Clapping is just repeatedly high-fiving yourself over someone else’s achievement" is a saying that has been printed on several images. "Clapping is just highfiving yourself for…

April 4, 2019
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Clarinet: I wet my reeds with the tears of brass players”

"Clarinet: I wet my reeds with the tears of brass players" is a jocular music saying that has been printed on many images. "I wet my reeds with the tears of brass players" was…

November 6, 2016
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Classical music is the kind we keep thinking will turn into a tune”

Frank McKinney "Kin" Hubbard (1868-1930) drew the popular newspaper comic strip Abe Martin of Brown County. A strip in July 1923 made a one-line observation about classical music:…

July 6, 2016
Music/Dance/Theatre/Film/Circus

“Close enough for jazz” (music adage)

Jazz often involves a lot of improvisation. The term "close enough for jazz" has been cited in print since at least 1937 and reflects the sometimes wild and improvisational nature of jazz…

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BARRY POPIK is a contributor to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Yale Book of Quotations and Dictionary of Modern Proverbs. Since 1990 he has also been a regular contributor to Gerald Cohen's Comments on Etymology.

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