Etymology of "broad" = [approx.] "gal"

[Marc Velasco]

I think the 'Broadway girl' idea has some merit.  Also consider that in
1900-1920, it was before the movie really came to the fore, and so most
entertainment was still live.   did the number of broadway shows (and
Broadway actresses, and aspiring actresses) peak around that time?  I've
looked (briefly) for this historical data, and found none.









On Thu, Jun 26, 2008 at 7:37 PM, Cohen, Gerald Leonard <gcohen at mst.edu>
wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Cohen, Gerald Leonard" <gcohen at MST.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Etymology of "broad" = [approx.] "gal"
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Hmmm. Interesting.  So "broad' might be a shortening of "Broadway girl." =
>  If so, there should be mention somewhere of "Broadway girl(s), or =
> 'broad(s)' for short"  or perhaps "broad" specifically in reference to a =
> Broadway girl.  Can either such comment be located?
> =20
> Gerald Cohen
>
> ________________________________
>
> Original message from American Dialect Society on behalf of Douglas G. =
> Wilson, Thu 6/26/2008 5:54 PM
>
> I have another candidate etymon. I don't know whether anybody's
> suggested it before.
>
> It is found in periodicals of the early 20th century, but here is an
> excerpt from a recent book which describes (some) the apparently
> relevant milieu (New York, 1900-1920).
>
> Can y'all spot the candidate?
>
> ----------
>
> Katie N. Johnson, _Sisters in Sin: Brothel Drama in America, 1900-1920_
> (Cambridge, 2006): p. 22:
>
> //Early twentieth-century American popular culture was smitten with the
> figure of the actress. Countless novels, short stories, articles, and
> plays about actresses at the turn of the century reveal a cultural
> fascination with a purportedly champagne-drinking, lobster-eating, and
> sexually naughty Broadway girl. .... / Many dramas on the New York stage
> at the turn of the twentieth century featured a Broadway girl as the
> main character, especially the ubiquitous "girl" musicals. Particularly
> popular were _The Dancing Girl_ (1891), _A Gaiety Girl_ (1894), _The
> Ballet Girl_ (1897), ..., _The Belle of Broadway_ (1902), ....
> Championed by burlesque producer George Edwardes, these productions
> featured the erotic spectacle of dancing, scantily-clad women known as
> the "girl chorus." Representations of the Broadway girl were obsessed
> with objectifying her sexuality.//
>
> ----------
>
> Candidate number 6, at least!
>
> Note that I am not making any extravagant claim ... just another
> candidate .... I like it, though, on brief acquaintance.
>
> -- Doug Wilson
>
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