Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1907-01-02
ssTwENTY-THREE."


Latest Slang Phrase.
These two eminently respectable and
conservative newspapers, the New York
Post and the Chicago Post, are engaged
in an interesting but rather futile task Of
trying to locate the derivation Of the well
known expression, ''twenty-three," which
has become SO well established in the
slang of the year. As the slang Of to-
day is the recognized and legitimate Ian
guage Of tomorrow, such an endeavor is
praiseworthy. Everybody comedies that
the expression has come to stay, but
where did it come from?
The New York Post is prolific in solu-
lions Of the problem which is the most
vexatious since the age of Ann was def
nitely decided. 1t gives no less than six
explanations, and lets its readers take their
choice:
Race tracks are SO laid out as to accommodate
not more than twenty-five horses at time
The twenty-third horse entered, therefore,
must be put out of the race.
2. The psycopathic ward at Bellevue hos
pital, Nav York, is ward No. %, and, in the
vernacular Of the ambulance surgeon,
"Twenty-three for his" is equivalent to
Hes crazy"
s. In numbering the rooms of certain
new hotel in New York the mineral ''2s" was
inadvertently omitted. The clerks therefore
used ''Show the gentleman to room 2s", as q
signal to the "bouncer" when an undesirable
applicant came for q room.
L. The expression originated from the
twenty-third verse Of the third chapter Of
Genesis: Therefore the Lord sent him forth
from the garden OF Eden to till the ground
from whence he was taken"
s. The expression originated from pas
sage in "a Tale of Two Cities, where the
guillotine number given the hero is twenty
three
8. "Twenty-three" is used by telegraphers
to signify ''Keep off the wire", as they use
Thirty" for saying "Good Night"
The Chicago Post Loyalty believes that
the expression originated in that city,
contending that some good can come out
of Packingtown after all. 1t argues that
Tod Sloan was the real author. "Local
authorities all agree that Tod Sloan, the
well-known jockey, at ope time had room
No. % in the apartment building that used
to stand on the site of the present Rail-
way Exchange building. Late at night,
his weighty duties over, Mr.. Sloan would
murmer, Tod, twentythree Is the place
for you.' 1t always was. The evident APP
propriateness of the phrase made an in
Simultaneous hit among the quiet mouthed
sporting fraternity, and it was used in
Chicago racing circles for years before
George M. Conan put his little New York
trademark on it,"
Any one of the explanations, either Of
the East or West, is sufficient. Neither
newspaper, however, recites the explana-
tion which is frequently given, that in
the old baseball regulations, rule No. %
gave the umpire the right to eject obstrep-
erous players from the grounds, so that
when he called out 'stwenty-three for
YOU, the player had no recourse but to
meekly HE himself away.
Another explanation is that Barnum Il
Bailey's circus had twenty-five ring acts,
the twenty-third being the hippodrome
races, SO that when it was desired to
awaken the sleeping tent and stake men
and roustabouts, caller went the rounds
crying s'twenty-three", meaning that the
show was over.