The playground "slide"

[Jonathan Lighter]

I do recall a single, ancient, wooden slide at the end of a line of shiny
new metal slides in the long-vanished 66th Street playground in Central
Park.

As for slidingpondophobia, some of us knew what a "pond" was, and we knew
what a "slide" was.  You might as well have called it a "sliding
cantaloupe."  It was surreal. Kids who thought it was some kind of pond
were nuts. And their parents encouraged them. It was especially frightening
to see adults so grossly deluded.

Now, a "sliding board" would have seemed less odd. Especially if it was
wood.

JL

On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 1:11 PM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: The playground "slide"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Even faster if you sat on a store-boughten-bread sack, which in those days
> would have been made of waxed paper.
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
> Wilson Gray [hwgray at GMAIL.COM]
> Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2012 1:00 PM
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Thu, May 3, 2012 at 8:57 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> > Wilson, speaking for the East Texas Caucasian Caucus: Â My childhood
> term for a 'playground slide' was also "sliding board."
> >
>
> Are you old enough to remember when the were made with parallel,
> double-curved, wooden slats? Later, they had steel lining. That made
> them safer, WRT to splinters and such. OTOH, you got to the bottom a
> lot faster!
>
> >
> > On the other term being discussed: Â  David L. Gold, "Three
> New-York-Cityisms: Â _Sliding Pond_, _Potsy_, and _Akey_, Â _American
> Speech_ 56 (1981): 17-32.
>
> Those people sure have a funny way of talking, don't they? I found out
> yesterday what a sliding pond was. "Potsy" isn't new, but I don't know
> what it is. But, "akey"? That's a new one on me!
>
> --
> -Wilson
>
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