More from the BUCKEYE TAVERN

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   The BUCKEYE TAVERN ran "Manhattan Medley" by Ed Gibbs, then "The Barman's
Corner" by Patrick Murphy.  The NYPL has from 1939-1948.  I went through
about 1943-1945 today.

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WHY DON'T YOU GET OUT OF THOSE WET CLOTHES AND INTO A DRY MARTINI?

   Another citation of this famous line is a cartoon titled "THE GUY HAS A
LINE" in the BUCKEYE TAVERN, 3 June 1943, pg. 2, cols. 2-3:

   "So I ups to this beautiful blonde and says: 'How would you like to slip
out of your wet coat and into a Dry Martini?'"

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BYOL

   OED has 1965?
   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, 4 January 1945, pg. 5, col. 1:

   From Ironton, O., a story that during the holidays a business man sent out
invites for a party, with the legend, "BYOL" on the bottom of the invitation.
 This was a common enough phrase in Prohibition days, but in the past 11
years it has evidently been forgotten, as one guest figured the "L" meant
lunch, another that it meant "linen," while the old line regulars knew, of
course, it meant, "Bring Your Own Liquor."

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SNEAKY PETE

   OED has 1949?
   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," pg. 6,
col. 2:

   We were talking to a youngster just returned from the Aleutians, and could
not help but be impressed by the many G.I. terms he sprinkled into his
conversation.  One of these was "Sneaky Pete", name which has quite general
circulation in the armed forces, and which is applied to a rather wide
variety of concoctions made up of anything from medical alcohol to high
octane gasoline and equal parts of embalming fluid, face lotion, anti-freeze
or what have you.  We had heard of "Pete" before, in this connection, but not
of "Sneaky Pete."  The phrase reminds us of the "canned heat" and "smoke"
terms which were current in the Prohibition era.

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PISCO PUNCH

   "Pisco" is in the OED, but not "Pisco punch."  DARE?
   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, "Patrick Murphy's The Barman's Corner," 8 June
1944, pg. 4, col. 3:

   Recently this column discussed once again some of the aspects of San
Francisco's Pisco Punch.  We neglected to mention a memo which we had picked
up on a visit to that city in 1942, however, and do so now.
   At the corner of Washington and Montgomery Sts. S. F., in a building which
housed (and probably still houses) the Agenzia Fugazzi, civic-minded citizens
have placed this placque at pedestrian eye-level:
   "HERE IN THE BANK EXCHANGE 1853-1918 DUNCAN NICOL INVENTED AND SERVED
PISCO PUNCH.  BENEFACTOR HUMANI GENERIS.  DEDICATED BY E. CLAMPUS VITUS 29
JANUARY 1938."
   It is the only such historical placque erected to a famed American
libation of which I have any knowledge.

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GABOTAGE

   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, 2 March 1944, pg. 6, col. 3:  "...wartime
'gabotage'--civilian gabbing about troop movements, ship sailings and war
production."
   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, 20 April 1944, pg. 7, col. 1:

   "Gabotage" is a new word coined to give point to a series of striking
advertisements recently distributed by Blitz-Reinhard Co. of Portland, Ore.
The ads dramatize the possible effect of careless talk, or "gabotage," with
regard to ship sailings, troop movements or war production.

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WWII SLANGUAGE

   From the BUCKEYE TAVERN, 13 August 1943, pg. 4, col. 3:

   While bending an elbow with a Marine friend of ours at a local bistro we
quizzed him on some of the slanguage now being coined by the men in that
service.  In "Guadalcanal Diary" there was frequent allusion to such terms,
not all of it printed, of course.  Here are some pet expressions as our
friend jotted them down:
   ARMORED HEIFER--canned milk.
   FISH-EYES--tapioca.
   CORKING OFF--taking it easy.
   BLANKET--cigarette paper.
   BOKSOK--crazy.
   TWIST-A-DIZZY--roll a cigarette.
   HOUSEWIFE--sewing kit.
   SHOOTING THE BREEZE--talking it over.