El Lay

[Benjamin Zimmer]

I don't see anything in HDAS or the list archives for the Los Angeles
nickname "El Lay". Looks like it caught on c1977, though there are some
interesting earlier cites...

Los Angeles Times, Jun 8, 1951, p. 7/5
Aboard the U.S.S. Cruiser Los Angeles off the Korean coast ...
The cruiser Manchester, circiling for the rendezvous near the 38th
parallel, kept her port broadside toward the Los Angeles as they
approached each other. Then the Manchester came about, sprinted to the
side of the new arrival, exposing a placarded starboard. Smeared over the
side of the Manchester in lettering three to six feet high, were
wisecracks from the men being relieved to return to California after
sailing Korean waters since last fall. Hilarious veterans, about 1500,
were all topside cheering and jeering their relief in rough humor. One
message read: "Hello, El Lay; Hello, El Lay -- We Left Some Reds For You
To Slay."

Los Angeles Times, Mar 9, 1954, p. IV4/1
Members of the West El Lay Rod and Reel Club are meeting at 8:30 p.m.
tomorrow at 1508 N Wilton Place, to discuss plans for their third annual
boys fishing trip this summer.

Los Angeles Times, Sep 7, 1973, p. III13/3
The East El-Lay Rod & Reel Club took the lead Thursday in the Billy Casper
Fishing Tournament at San Diego with 736 points.

Creem, Dec. 1975 <http://backpages.com/article.html?ArticleID=6358>
They made a tape. The guys who ran Pacific Recorders sent it down to
Warner Brothers in El Lay.

Los Angeles Times, Jan 19, 1977, p. IV5/3
Visiting buyers are chuckling at the latest sign of "el-lay" style in a
new showroom at the California Mart, L.A.'s major merchandising hall of
fashion.

Chicago Tribune, Jun 5, 1977, (Magazine) p. 24/1
Jerry Brown stood gilded by Malibu sunlight on a gorgeous, blue-and-white
Saturday, the kind that destroys carefully acquired cynicisms about the
absurdity of living in a city called "El Lay."


--Ben Zimmer