The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-05-20

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Rrnrala ~ tho o7lrrs-lun hRtoo TIA H.
was Disseminated brgrly Nv . com~tan
named Uenrgr Cnhnn. WIN useh N In tho
muaical comedy 'Littlc Johnny Jdnos
hut Mr.. Gotham did not first employ tho
numoral ~ ~ slang phra=r, he heart "
and thought II u good line, ~ h" usnd II.
Whore did II como from
We'll, II IL iust about two years 81 age,
says enc man. Thia authority, hy the
way, IL n baseball fan
'rwcnty.three' means baing tin
canned, E" says he. 'Of coursc. you kno
that tin canned among ball players means
being fired. released
s'Tventy-three' was first used as a slang
expression through tho South and South
west. II IL "A modification Of the slang
phrase 'Eightcen and Gye.' Eighteen and
FIVE was it, hrst form. and II was sprung
by a transforming ten, twent' and thirt'
repertory company touring the jayhawk
watertank towns OF the South and South-
west.
1T seems the manager Of the company
was n kind hearted guy and did not want
to bruise any one's feelings. lie never
fired my OF the bunch, but had a habit OF
piling on the extra parts in the plays and
keeping the ghost from walking in the
direction of the actor or actress he wanted
to get rid OF.
"Th man OF woman who was in bnd
favor was ordered by the manager TO study
additional parts until the number reached
Is, and at the same time the manager kept
putting OH salary day. 1t took about Eve
weeks for the artful proprietor of the show
to work up the list TO eighteen parts. That
meant five weeks unpaid salary.
by hat time the object. OF the scheme
reached the subject and he or she quit the
show. So in that company 1t got TO be a
byword. When one Of the troupe fell down
or failed to make a hit the rest of them
would pass out the word " and . Tor YOU
II meant that there were IS parts and 0
lean weeks coming, and the actor had better
leave. :.
after a while the 10 and g. was found
to be too long and some one did an adding
stunt and brought out 'a3.'
aThe theatrical company left 90 along
the lines Of the railroad and other show
30 4 got 20 Nom cork and Be4tsn. Racing
men took hold Of it and used it to designate
O horse that was a dead one
The racing man takes exceptions to the
above elucidation Of the problem OF dis
covery. mot a bit like It, says he, "2s
sNow I'll tell you iust where it did come
FROM he asserts with p~ositiveness. 1t
was this way. There were % horses en-
tered for the Suburban Handicap over in
New York and the limit was a. They
picked out the numbers to ace under and
Of course one wa "a. That horse was
ruled out, marked on the list. 1t did not
run.
$50 in racing parlanoe 49, came to mean
the horse that had to quit the track and DO
was used to describe the skate that wouldn
Don't let them fool you with any pipes
about actors having originated the word;
m actor never originates anything. He
Authority Number . Is the press agent
Of q oirous. For more than two de-
cades he has Illuminated the columns
Of the country papers with thrilers and
the canvas show has trailed him all over
the country. This genius Of lurid phrase
oirous man the credit Of "2s.'
sIt's az much the circus man'e expression
as Hey Rube,' says he. 1t Ia as old as
that slogan. You know whenever Q circus
man rnns up against q tough crGSd e q
and needs assistance, he cries, Hey Rubel
That is the signal for every oirous man
within hearing TO rush to the rescue wild a
tent stake or anything he can grab.
I heard II soon after l went into the bust
ness. In the ring show there used to be
twenty-three turns, and after the last one
the boss oanvasman had to work the boys
lively to get the tents,down and pack things
onto the wagons.
sThat last feature, Number %, was the
Roman chariot race. During the perform
ance the oanvasmen always sleep, par
tioularly II the show Ia playing one day
stands. During the evening you'll find
them lying around on the hay and straw
in the various g ants. Nv 'ah.."
when the Roman chariot race started
the cry ~ was sounded through the tents
and over the lot TO arouse tho oanyaHmen
and get them up ready for the heavy work
1ust as soon as the event vas over. Il
meant get out , inst as it does now, and II
was adopted by thec circus men generally
as a way of telling . companion that they
were through with him. .
1t is a far cry from tho sawdust ring
and the animal tent to the Holy Writ, but
the explorers forlthe original application
Of "2s" have to make IL IL the quest be re-
ligiously pursued. 1t was not a minister
who advanced this theory that the Bible is
responsible for the most recent slang phrase,
but a student of slang. who observed that
many a oolloquialsm was suggested by the
Scriptures.
The chronological scientist declares that
s23" is linked with the departure Of Adam
from the Garden Of Eden. He insists that
an anonymous party fell to discussing
the cause of the woes OF the world and the