slider/Slyder(R), Gut-bomb

[Dennis R. Preston]

Kathleen must have been from the greasy rather than greazy part of
IN; down south we had White Castles in the 50s, but not as sliders
until later; 60's is probably right.

dInIs (whose current recommendation for an excellent accompaniment to
a bag of sliders would be a Puglian Primitivo)


At 12:50 AM 2/13/2004 -0500, Doug Wilson wrote:


The slang term "slider" meaning "[small greasy] hamburger" (White Castle
style or similar) was used in the 1960's according to my own recollection.
It was not restricted to White Castle in my experience. The folk etymology
said that the burger was small and greasy enough that it slid down the
throat without the need for active chewing or swallowing ... or something
like that. I believe no major company would have advertised "sliders" (nor
"gut-bombs") back then.


There is a White Castle on the Black Horse Pike going down the shore in NJ.
Having grown-up in Indiana it was a new experience for me in the early
80's. Dad, however, had recollection of the place going back to the
mid-40's when he would go down the shore with Pop-Pop and Nana. He recalls
them being called sliders back then. And, in his opinion, the reason the
little burgers were called such was because they went in - and out - shall
we say, without stopping.

Kathleen E. Miller
Research Assistant to William Safire
The New York Times


--
Dennis R. Preston
University Distinguished Professor
Department of Linguistics and Germanic, Slavic,
        Asian and African Languages
Wells Hall A-740
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824-1027 USA
Office: (517) 353-0740
Fax: (517) 432-2736