FW: (Message from Barry Popik): Flatiron Building "23 skidoo" myth in NY Times, again

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

I received the item below from Barry and now share it with ads-l.

Gerald Cohen

________________________________

From: Barry Popik [mailto:bapopik at aol.com]
Sent: Wed 5/26/2010 11:45 PM



"23" was a slang term by at least 1899, years before the Flatiron Building opened. I documented this many years ago.
...
"Are said" doesn't get the NY Times off from quoting a long-discredited NYC myth. Said by who? People who don't study slang? ...
...
Barry Popik
Round Rock, TX
www.barrypopik.com <http://www.barrypopik.com/>
...
...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/26/realestate/commercial/26flatiron.html?ref=nyregion
A Quirky Building That Has Charmed Its Tenants

By HELENE STAPINSKI


Published: May 25, 2010

The Flatiron Building's triangular shape, designed by Daniel Burnham, and its location at the junction of Broadway and Fifth Avenue at 23rd Street, have made it a New York landmark.
(...)
Because of its footprint and location, the Flatiron has problems and perks that other buildings do not. The swirling winds generated by its shape are said to have inspired the phrase "23 skidoo" - what police officers would say as they dispersed the men who gathered outside to linger and watch for women's skirts to blow up as they passed.

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org