"on the may"--typo for "on the way"

[Pearsons, Enid]

Typo was just what I was thinking...or rather, thinko or hearo.  Could this
piece have been dictated over the phone to someone who heard "on the menu"
(perhaps pronounced /'menju/) as "...may"?  OK, it's a wild guess, but it's
one more possibility in that context.  "Way" is pretty appealing, too.

        Enid

Enid Pearsons
Senior Editor
Random House Reference
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
212-572-4916 (voice)
212-572-4997 (fax)


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gerald Cohen [mailto:gcohen at UMR.EDU]
> Sent: Friday, September 21, 2001 8:09 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: "on the may"--typo for "on the way"
>
>
>    My thanx to Frank Abate and Douglas Wilson for their attempts to
> unravel "on the may." Since this item doesn't ring a bell with the
> ads-l list, and since there is no repeat of the item in all the other
> 1913 baseball articles I've read, I think I see the solution: "may"
> here is a typo for "way." The baseball popularity contest will be the
> hottest thing  coming down the pike ("on the way") in a few weeks.
>
> >Would anyone have any idea what "on the may" means in the quote below
> >(newspaper _San Francisco Bulletin_ April 22, 1913, p.16/2-3; title:
> >"Tub and Del Are Leading"):
> >
> >    'The baseball popularity contest is growing hotter.  It is going
> >to get hotter and hotter.  It will be the hottest thing on the may in
> >a few more weeks.  It can't get too hot for The Bulletin.  The more
> >votes that are polled for the various players of the Pacific Coast
> >League the hotter it will be.  Let the "heat" flow. ...'
>
> ---Gerald Cohen
>