IDIOMS
at the drop of a
hat at the slightest signal, immediately, without delay,
without any hesitation, without any planning and for no obvious reason.
Origin: This phrase probably
alludes to signalling the start of a race, fight or other contest by dropping a
hat. [Late 1800s] http://idioms.in/at-the-drop-of-a-hat/
for nothing,
free of charge,
for no apparent reason or motive, futilely, to no avail.
in nothing flat, in very little time. make nothing of,
to treat lightly, regard as easy,
to be unsuccessful in comprehending. nothing but, nothing other than, only. nothing doing, emphatically no, certainly not, no activity, inducement, advantage. nothing less than /short of, absolutely, completely. think nothing of,
to treat casually, to regard as insignificant. Origin of nothing: Middle English; Old English nānthing, nathing; see no, thing; before 900 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/in--nothing--flat
To egg someone on is to encourage them and urge them forward. This little term has nothing to do with
bird's eggs. Nor is it connected with
the phrase that employs the other common usage of 'egg' as a verb, that is,
'over-egg the pudding'. The 'egg' of
'egg on' is a straightforward variant of 'edge', so to 'egg someone on' is to
edge, or urge, them forward. Egg and
edge both have the look and feel of Viking words and this first impressions
turns out to be correct, as they both derive from the Old Norse 'eddja'. Egg has been used as a verb in English since
around the 13th century and appears in print in the Trinity College Homer, in the form of
'eggede', circa 1200. To 'egg on'
appears later. It is used in Thomas
Drant's translation of Horace - Horace
his arte of poetrie, pistles and satyrs englished, 1566: "Ile egge them on to speake some thyng,
whiche spoken may repent them." http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/egg-on.html
Buffalo, New York
No one argues that the
original settlement, and later the city, was named for the creek on which it
was located, but how that creek got its name is hotly disputed. The
wild buffalo theory: The most common theory is that the
creek was named for the wild buffalo that watered on it and ate at the nearby
salt lick. Indian named Buffalo theory: If there is an Indian
connection, it is more likely related to the next theory that an Indian named
Buffalo lived on the creek, prompting the early non-natives to call the stream
"Buffalo's Creek." This Seneca
was said to have been a member of the Wolf clan and called
"De-gi-yah-goh," or "Buffalo" by his tribe. Whatever the
origin of the name, by 1791, the residents in the settlement and visitors to
the area were using the name Buffalo.
This may be because at least one early resident, Martin Middaugh, had moved here from Pennsylvania, which also has a Buffalo Creek, and
he was content to perpetuate the name, but the record does not show any
definitive data. Whether after the
animal, the Indian, myths, earlier settlements, or French or Indian words,
Buffalo continued to be the name, despite the fact that the Dutch owners dubbed
the city "New Amsterdam" in 1800.
Nancy Blumenstalk Mingus http://www.buffaloah.com/h/bflo/origin.html
Buffalo Bills football team The Bills nickname was suggested as part of a
fan contest in 1947 to rename Buffalo’s All-America Football Conference team,
which was originally known as the Bisons.
The Bills nickname referenced frontiersman Buffalo Bill Cody and was
selected over Bullets, Nickels, and Blue Devils. It helped that the team was owned by the
president of Frontier Oil, James Breuil.
Buffalo was without a team from 1950 to 1959, when owner Ralph Wilson
acquired a franchise in the AFL. Wilson
solicited potential nicknames from fans for his new franchise and ultimately
chose Bills in homage to the city’s defunct AAFC team. http://mentalfloss.com/article/25650/whats-nickname-origins-all-32-nfl-team-names
Buffalo Bills
barbershop quartet In 1947, baritone Hershel Smith, a corporate
executive, and lead singer Al Shea, a policeman, got together at Smith's home
in Buffalo New York with the idea of forming a barbershop quartet. Tenor Vern
Reed, an executive for a boy's club, and bass Bill Spangenberg, a truck driver
for a steel company were added. The quartet competed at various competitions
with modest success. Shortly afterward,
Smith was promoted and transferred to Madison Wisconsin, and the quartet was
disbanded. Had they not reorganized, the
entire face of barbershop harmony may have been vastly different than it is
today. However, Shea and Reed insisted
on continuing, and they found baritone Dick Grapes. The quartet blossomed quickly, winning a
national competition in 1950, and developing quite a fan club. Over the next few years, they booked many
engagements and cut some records. In
1956, composer Meredith Willson was looking for a quartet to appear in his new
musical "The Music Man". The
Bills won the audition and were cast in the play, which was to open on
Broadway. This required the quartet to give up their jobs and move to New
York. Grapes decided to say in Buffalo
at his job. He was replaced by veteran
barbershop baritone Wayne "Scotty" Ward. The four of them; Reed, Shea, Ward, and
Spangenberg, performed eight shows per week for a total of 1,375 performances
and five Tony awards. During this time,
the Bills also appeared on several television shows (most shows originated in
New York in the 1950s), including the Perry Como Show and Arthur Godfrey Show. In addition, the group made more records. In 1962 the musical was adapted for the
screen, with the same four Bills appearing.
Shortly after the movie was finished, Spangenberg became ill and was forced
to leave the quartet. He was replaced by
bass Jim Jones. The Bills continued to
appear at nightclubs, state fairs, and other shows, as well as make other
recordings. Internal issues and some
health problems caused the quartet to be disbanded; they made their last
appearance in May of 1967. Overall, the
Buffalo Bills made an estimated 6,000 appearances. http://www.singers.com/group/Buffalo-Bills/ As Time Goes By - The Buffalo Bills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoP9ONunkxw
3:19
Buffalo Bills from The Music Man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO0DFttQoJc
3:38
Songs that mention Buffalo http://www.speakupwny.com/forums/showthread.php/7819-Songs-that-mention-Buffalo The song
Broadway by the Goo Goo Dolls is not about the theater world, but about the
Broadway district of Buffalo, New York. http://www.songplaces.com/Broadway/Broadway_District_Buffalo_New_York
August 25, 1980 AN
ATTEMPT TO COMPILE A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BUFFALO CHICKEN WING by Calvin
Trillin http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1980/08/25/an-attempt-to-compile-a-short-history-of-the-buffalo-chicken-wing
Frank Sinatra was “Slacksy O’Brien?” That was an
early nickname for Sinatra in the Hoboken neighborhood where he grew up
because, as a youngster, he wore nice clothes.
Francis Albert Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in the Hudson
River waterfront city that was home to German, Irish and Italian immigrants. His father, Anthony, was a boxer who fought
in Irish gyms as “Marty O’Brien” before becoming a firefighter and tavern
owner. His mother, known as “Dolly,” was
connected to the local political machine.
Even though the family initially lived in a cold-water apartment at 415
Monroe St., they eventually had such luxuries as a radio, telephone and car
while his mother made sure her son had nice clothes, Hoboken Historical Museum
director Robert Foster said. On December
12, 2015, people left flowers near the plaque where Sinatra’s first home once
stood when he died in 1998 at age 82 and the city held a memorial Mass at St.
Francis Roman Catholic Church, where Sinatra was baptized. Whatever real or imagined slights felt by some
residents were forgotten. Sinatra was
inducted in the first class of New Jersey’s Hall of Fame in 2008. The Postal Service in 2008 issued a 42-cent
stamp with his image, taking the rare step of holding three ceremonies in
Hoboken, New York and Las Vegas. http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/national/hoboken-celebrates-frank-sinatras-100th-birthday-20151212
Hoboken Firsts
Baseball: On June 19,
1846 the first officially recorded, organized game of baseball was played on
Hoboken's Elysian Fields. The New York
Base Ball Club defeated the Knickerbockers 23-1. Learn more at HobokenBaseball.com.
Read a June 8, 2001 New York Times article that
chronicles the game's development before and after the famous Hoboken match.
America's First Brewery: On February 5, 1663 Nicholas Varlett obtained
from Peter Stuyvesant a patent for the first brewery in America, located on
Castle Point.
Zipper: That's right,
the zipper was invented in Hoboken and first manufactured by Hoboken's
Automatic Hook & Eye Co.
http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com Issue 1393
December 14, 2015 On this date
in 1836, the Toledo War between Ohio and Michigan unofficially
ended. Word of the Day for December 14: polar opposite noun
opposite in every way On this date
in 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his
party became the first
people to reach the Geographic South Pole
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