Antedatings of "Skid Row"

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Sun May 11 18:26:47 UTC 2014


On May 11, 2014, at 1:19 PM, Shapiro, Fred wrote:

> Below are three antedatings of "skid row."  I am not entirely sure what the meaning of the first citation, nor perhaps the second citation, is.  From these citations it appears that "skid row" may be one of the few important terms that is actually a Canadianism.

So the guides for the Pioneer Square area of downtown Seattle, who claim that "Skid Row"/"Skid Road" was in use in the 19th c. there are putting naive tourists on?
Nothing from Seattle?  Or was that just "Skid Road" (from where they rolled the logs down) until after the Vancouver counterpart had become "Skid Row"?  It would make sense that it might have spread either from Vancouver to Seattle or vice versa.

LH
>
> skid row (OED 1931)
>
> 1920 _Vancouver Daily World_ 23 Aug. 15 (Newspapers.com)  The picnic is for Shriners and their friends and starts at 1:30. ... Numerous tents and banners have sprung up indicating the Shriner's skid row.
>
> 1923 _Ottawa Journal_ 21 June 14 (Newspapers.com)  Two years out of the ring has put the champion on skid row.
>
> 1927 _Lincoln_ (Nebraska) _Star_ 10 June 15 (Newspapers.com)  Fred Daniels drifted with the "push" from coast to coast for twenty-five years, ... frequented the Barrell houses and "can dumps" from the "skid row" in Vancouver, B.C. to the "Dutch Mans" in exchange alley New Orleans.
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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



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