Show WINCHELL WINCHELL- ONG JONG BROADWAY WITH i Repeats Slang SIng Of Broadway Primer of Broadway Slang edition of ot his American LanS Language Lan- Lan In B H H- L. L new Winchell contributed contributed con conS guage Knopf he footnotes as follows Walter S primer on Broadway slang to Vanity Fair in Novem- Novem a 1927 frh The article Mr refers to is reprinted in F part t b below Is U. U Probably because Broadway where th thIS thi theatrical business be be- its Itna and ends for most of at followers It Is the slang capital of th the tbt world It U S. difficult to Imagine any ny other olber spot on the globe where th th citizenry takes so readily tol to l lAng nr and one suspects that the Hon why thy the tho articulations of ot business are chiefly J In Jie ie show f tang is that most actors were fl b b rn In a dressing room or oz nc- nc to on elected their schooling o go the stage Consequently they are inthe in inthe naturally more accomplished the art of ot mimicry than th they y are In ln the three Rs R. and even theYO the YO youngsters whose parents are tars and can afford special tutors for tor them ore exposed to tho idiom ot of the theater theer long Jong before they be begin be- be gin jlii kindergarten r k-r 1 It is not therefore unjust to of oC show that the majority people arc no more than semi semi- literate The Tho terms in iri which they f evaluate their fellowmen are Indicated in in- in th the line Look at that enjoying life Ute Ill I'll bet he's hes so Ignorant h cant can't even do a hand hand- I tand s-j s The gc ft member of ot the how show bu business and and one speaks quite t naturally of ot all Broadway natives in the same breath would rather r perfect his Personality his specialty or his stage style than achieve an education When he has developed a dance routine distinguished d by some hair hair aising raIsIng L steps or J I b able to arouse an audience to gratifying applause With his sanga or stories it does Muot not ot matter motter very ery much whether he can swap conversation with what he hc calls calIs highbrows rows Hence his daily commerce is in the tho language lie Jio understands understands sla slang L' L at makes u He doe hope that he f g good od He hopes hope that he clocks tiLe He Hc trusts that he doesn't fop flop tor brody meaning that he hopes hoes he will no not faiL fall And when he I wows em cm cm he has hns been a hit r d when a person snubs him he do doesn't nt call that snob a high hat for V r a ft ritzy person He merely d decides that he has been up up- up The Tho great greatest t. t dl distance fi from m the apron back to the rear wall is upstage or as far tar away u as L you can get from the footlights The word upstage is commonly Used today by all aU groups James Gleason who won fame tame as u 3 a player play in Is flU Zat So SoM SoV which he wrote a season or so ago contributed contributed con con- to Damon Runyon the sports writer Johnny OConnor O'Connor Rubo Goldberg the cartoonist Wilson Mizner and hundreds of other wise crackers on Broadway aro are credited with many nany of ot the o famous bits of ot slang Among the newer expressions are Hes a phoney hoJ ho J I isn't nt on the tho square or on the thc level a ft four flusher your racket meaning What do you do for a Jiving living To UTa beet beef or squawk quawk is to complain Flick tr er Cr is a movie Ive got the needles I s My nerves are bad The ditto Take It on the tho lam is making a quick or hurried disappear disappear- ice ce F Ver J which is yIn ym for a Ford car was first used to 0 describe a show that failed A A turkey is a third rate rato Ion tion Taking him for tor a ride is for enticing a person to o 0 death A rat or a heel is double crosser crosser or a worthless person erson To 10 b be burned up is to ae angry A flame Iame is a fellows fellow's A femme Is is' a girl le's les es e's gah means h hes s 's crazy ver her Rolled off ott my knife being or nt at to trouble The run around stalling or failing tailing to keep a aromise romise In your hat is ent nt to applesauce baloney hooey or banana oil oU When hen a f follow now carries the torch torchI t I doesn't imply that he ho is lit up w r drunk but His steady as quit him nim for tor another or he ho is for her Sing a torch cog iong Is commonly used in Broad- Broad vay ay late places laces as a request for a lied lad in commemoration of the state Tommy Lyman said t to have created it withy with My y tam us torch song Como Come o o 0 Me M My Melancholy Baby hot hoU or hot hoU de de- ribes a girl who has a great deal t C I personality charm or It IL Linor Glyn coined It now com com- only known as 88 sex appeal A ew York newspaper the Morn- Morn r g Telegraph boasts boosts in its cols coi col- col- col ns s that tha it is h The only news- news per er in the world with IT roadway is known as The Main tem tm Abel Green a n. theatrical porter calls call it it Mazda Lane nd d others refer to Broadway as S e Incandescent District- District angsten Territory The Big tery Coffee Coffeo Pot Canyon I |