Big Board (1901); Black Rock (1970); Borscht Belt (1941); Doofus (1955)

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BIG BOARD

   The New York Stock Exchange.  The RHHDAS has the perfectly ridiculous
1934.  I had posted 190-something.
   I didn't look at all the "big board" hits here.  Some were for the Chicago
Board of Trade.  This looked like the first hit for New York, and "little
board" is also in the article.

   3 May 1901, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 31:
   ...as much clerical work in the Exchange's Clearing House as in the "big
board."

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BLACK ROCK

   The C.B.S. building in New York.  The RHHDAS has 1974.  An article titled
"Bad Rap at Black Rock" is in the NEW YORK TIMES, 19 August 1975, pg. 31.

   1 April 1970, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 44:
   On the eastside the C.B.S. Building (dubbed Black Rock by office workers
because of possible bad days inside its black stone colonnaded facings) is
set off by tiny lights on trees in its sunken set-back plaza.

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BORSCHT BELT

   The "Borscht circuit" is earlier.  A new OED "Borscht belt" entry has
1946.

   16 November 1941, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. SM10:
   ...Danny (Kaye--ed.) went back to the borscht belt.

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BELGIAN BLOCKS

   The cobblestones are called this.  Articles go back to the beginning of
the database.  Not in OED?

   12 November 1857, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 1:
   Belgian Blocks.
(In a list of items--ed.)

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CROSSROADS OF THE WORLD

   Broadway.  Also known as the Doublecross-roads of the World.
   The first hit here is late--and isn't even for Broadway.

   24 February 1921, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 11:
   Look at our Embassy in Rome, that crossroads of the world.

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BROOKLYN

   This is the first hit for "bowling" and "Brooklyn side."  It seems late.
Maybe I'll try "Brooklyn" with "bowling" and "pin."

   3 June 1958, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 40:
   ...I hit the Brooklyn side (between the 1 and 2 pins)...

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DOOFUS

   The RHHDAS has 1960 (Lighter cites it as "NYC schoolboy"--he was
collecting terms as a schoolboy!), but this is late.  Green's CDS also has
1960s+.
   In this citation "Doofus" is a character name, but it's clearly a take-off
on something used earlier.

   25 December 1955, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. SM10:
   "Doofus lost every round from the third, but they gave him the duke!"

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CANNOLI

   Merriam-Webster has 1943.  Same cite?

   17 January 1943, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. BR5:
   His pride in his skill in the family kitchen, the high art he brought to
the creation of _cannoli_, a certain pastry of which he excelled, his habit
of squandering all his earnings on family banquets, are apt to bring a smile
to any reader's face.
(Review of MOUNT ALLEGRO by Jerre Mangione--ed.)

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ILLEGAL, IMMORAL, OR FATTENING

   This quote, supposedly by Alexander Woollcott, wasn't a direct hit.  The
following was interesting.

   27 December 1950, NEW YORK TIMES, pg. 12 ad:
   Signs spark up your party!
(A)  Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think.
(B)  Everything I like is illegal, immoral or fattening.
(C)  Why be disagreeable when with a little effort you could be a real
stinker.
(D)  3 things that never return--the past life, the neglected opportunity,
the borrowed umbrella.
THE BAR MART, INC.
America's Most Unusal Store
62 West 45th St.