Pay-What-You-Want (Pay-As-You-Wish)
The economic slump of 2007-2009 resulted in some restaurants not charging any set fees, but having customers on a "pay-what-you-want" basis. The concept is not new -- Clifton's…
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“I love coffee, I love tea” (“Java Jive”)
"I love coffee, I love tea" (also "I like coffee, I like tea") is best known today as the first line of the song "Java Jive" (1940, with words by Milton Drake, music…
“Sugar is sweet and so are you” (“Roses are red…”)
"Roses red, and violets blew" comes from Edmund Spenser's epic poem, The Faerie Queene (1590). In the 1800s, the line "roses are red, violets are blue" was used at the…
“You can’t eat just one” (“Betcha can’t eat just one”)
"Betcha can't eat just one" was the 1963 advertising campaign slogan (by Young & Rubicam) for Lay's Potato Chips. Television advertising featured New York City-born actor…
Big Apple (drinks using applejack)
After 1937's "Big Apple" dance craze, several "Big Apple" drinks were made -- usually with applejack. Most of these drinks were never popular or have faded into obscurity.…
Bubbemycin or Bubbe-mycin (Jewish chicken soup)
Chicken soup, according to some Jewish grandmothers, can cure what ails you. The nickname "Jewish penicillin" has been used for chicken soup since the 1960s. Chicken soup is also called…
19th Hole (Nineteenth Hole)
A golf course usually has eighteen holes. THe "nineteenth hole" ("19th hole") is a jocular nickname for the clubhouse bar or restaurant, or a bar or a restaurant near the golf…
“Eat here and get gas” (“food and gas”)
Many rural roadside establishments combine a restaurant with a gasoline filling station ("food and gas" or "food and fuel"). The classic sign for such a place is: "Eat Here…
Popcorn at the movies
Eating popcorn at a movie theater is a popular tradition now, but popcorn wasn't always served at the movies. Samuel M. Rubin ("Sam the Popcorn Man," who died in 2004 at age 85) is…
“Mm” or “Mmm” or “Mmmm” (“Mm! Mm! Good!” & “MMMM…TOASTY”)
"Mm!" is an expression of culinary delight. Campbell's soups have been advertised as "M'm! M'm! Good!" since 1973. Quiznos sandwiches have been…
Great Depression
"Great Depression" is the name for the economically depressed period in the United States beginning with the October 1929 stock market crash and lasting throughout the 1930s. The term…
Great Recession
"Great Recession" is a variant of the 1930s name "Great Depression." Many writers have called economic dips a "Great Recession," starting about 1974 and continuing in…
“To Insure Promptness” (“tip” false etymology)
"Tip" (and "tips") is often said (incorrectly) to be an acronym of: . To Insure Promptness.. To Insure Performance.. To Improve Performance.. To Insure Prompt Service.. To…
Corkage (Corkage Fee; Corkage Money)
Corkage (or "corkage fee" or "corkage money") is the amount that a restaurant charges customers when they bring in their own bottles of wine. Customers may want to bring in…
“No one ever got fired for buying IBM/Microsoft/gold”
"No one ever got fired for buying IBM" (or "Nobody gets fired for buying IBM") means that no one gets fired to making the safe pick and choosing an industry leader. Other…
“Tastes like chicken”
"Tastes like chicken" is a line that has often been used to describe the flavor of exotic meats. The phrase is cited in print from at least 1877. The comic use and popularization of the…
Minute Steak
Entry in progress -- B.P. Practically EdibleMinute SteakMeal that would normally be quite chewy, such as that from the tougher area of the Sirloin or from the Eye of Round, is cut into small, very…
“Never convert a convertible stock/bond” (Wall Street adage)
"Never convert a convertible" (convertible bond or convertible preferred stock) is a Wall Street adage that is usually attirbuted to Benjamin Graham (1894-1976), author of Security…
“Profits are an opinion, cash is a fact”
"Profits are an opinion, cash is a fact" (or "Profit is an opinion, cash is a fact" or "Earnings are an opinion, cash is a fact") is cited in print from the early…
“Jesus Saves, Moses Invests”
"Jesus Saves" is a message that the Bible Society advertised since at least the 1960s. By at least 1965, someone added the following graffito to that message: "But Moses…