Parkie/Parky
A Parks Department employee. It's either "Parkie" or "Parky." It was used more in the past than it is today. American Speech, vol. 16, no. 3, October 1941, pg. 188:PARK AND…
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Gray Lady/Grey Lady; Paper of Record; All the News That’s Fit to Print (New York Times)
The New York Times has many nicknames and slogans. "Gray Lady," "Paper of Record" and "All the News That's Fit to Print" are the most the most popular, and have…
New York Minute (or, New York Nanosecond)
"New York Minute" (a unit of time that reflects the fast past of New York City) was popularized in Texas! Perhaps the New York Minute has something to do with the slower, more laid-back…
Numerous 1920s “Big Apple” citations in the New York Morning Telegraph
Gerald Cohen's 1991 monograph identified about seven "big apples." There are many more. The citations provide overwhelming detail of John J. Fitz Gerald's authorship and use of…
Knish
A knish is an Eastern European snack food with a filling (usually potato) covered with dough. Was the knish started by Max Green of Rivington Street, almost 100 years ago? The Yonah Schimmel Knish…
Bloody Mary (cocktail)
The Bloody Mary is often thought to have been invented at Harry's New York Bar in Paris, in the 1920s. The French bartender Fernand Petiot (1900-1975) later came to the King Cole Room of the…
911 (emergency call)
911 is dialed for emergency calls; 311 is for non-emergency calls. The 911 system was introduced in New York City -- and nationwide -- in 1968. In the 1967 phonebook, Fire was "OPERATOR"…
Hot Dog Roll (Hot Dog Bun; Vienna Roll)
The origin or the hot dog roll has never been recorded. According to myth, the hot dog roll was born at the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. The hot dog vendor had run out of the white gloves that…
Hot Dog (Polo Grounds myth & a full etymology)
The word "hot dog" was not coined at the Polo Grounds, at Madison Square Garden, or even in New York City. This has been exhaustively detailed in a Gerald Cohen, David Shulman and Barry…
Shyster
Gerald Cohen is a professor at the University of Missouri-Rolla and the editor of Comments on Etymology. Before his 1991 Big Apple monograph, Cohen published these two in the 1980s: Origin of the…
“Indict a ham sandwich”
This famous modern legal term that a prosecutor can get a grand jury to "indict a ham sandwich" -- that is, indict anything -- began in New York. It was immortalized in the Tom Wolfe…
I’d rather be a lamppost in New York than mayor anywhere else
This saying goes way, way back. It has been said in various forms; a friend of mine remembers the boxer Sonny Liston saying that he'd rather be a lamppost in Harlem than mayor of Philadelphia.…
Bronx Cocktail
The Bronx cocktail was invented around 1900. An article in February 1901 credited "J. E. O'Connor of the Waldorf-Astoria, inventor of the 'Bronx Cocktail.'" A 1932 article…
Ambulance Chaser
"Ambulance chaser" is another derogatory term for a lawyer (see also the 1840s term"shyster"). An "ambulance chaser" preys on accident victims to sign them up to…
“Greatest Show on Earth”
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus bills itself as "The Greatest Show on Earth." Trademark records show a first use on July 21, 1891. New York City-born entertainer Dan…
Fugeddaboutit! (“forget about it”)
"Fugeddaboutit" is not in Irving Lewis Allen's City in Slang (1993). I remember its use in a popular 1990s radio ad for Tops Appliance City. The Works Progress Administration in the…
Wall Street (from a graveyard to a river)
Wall Street (the financial capital of the United States) is, according to the old saying, "between a river and a graveyard" -- the East River and Trinity Church Cemetery. The comment has…
Big Onion
In 1991, "Big Onion" Walking Tours started in New York City. I keep thinking they have the wrong city. Chicago is often called the "big onion" because some people think…
Skycap
The word "skycap," like "scofflaw," entered the language as a contest winner. Willie Wainwright, of New Orleans, won $100 in 1940 for his suggestion of "skycap" for…
Egg Cream
An "egg cream" contains neither eggs nor cream. The usual contents are seltzer, chocolate syrup (Fox's U-bet), and milk. The egg cream has been described as a chocolate soda without…