The Waterbury Democrat., 1936-10-05
In New York
Q WA M
BY GEORGE ROSS

NGW 4OIk, OCIs O-1I1S Vndk1II6L" tan linguist is not 8 product of a School of Languages. He is a slang expert. He must know pidgeon Eng fish, Times Square prattle, ball park banter, Tin Pan Alley lingo and the strange argot of Madison Square Garden. For each of Goth- am's coteries has 8 tongue of its own.
 This is the fantastic jargon of the soda jerkers: Axle grease is butter, "pin a rose" is to place a slice of onion on hamburger, and a midget from Harlem" is a small chocolate soda. One on the city, is 8 request for glass of water, toast two on slice of squeal" is ham and eggs and a George Eddy is the chap who leaves no tip.
 Who is George Eddy? Prob ably some guy" one of the soda dispensers told me, "who came in every afternoon a long time ago for 8 twist it, choke 1t and make it squeal-and never dropped a dime" A "twist it, choke it and make it squeal" is @ plain, ordinary egg matted milkl
 Fare Talk
 The towns taxi-drivers have a tongue which baffleS even the most The taximeter is a "glom," a rip is @ call that averages over two dollars and 8 showcase" is the la- bel handed to new conveyance. If 8 driver gets an order from a dreamy-eyed couple to drive them around the park he tells his con- frers that he had a "mugger rip" The decrepit, wheezing cabs which rattle along the city's streets are known as "tin fannys." And, if you happen to climb into a cab manned by a particularly talkative pilot there is some comfort in knowing that the boys in the profession would dub him "a coffee pot lowyer"
 Counter Attack
 Even the salesgirls in this town have developed a jargon of their own. A 'B. H." is a bargain hunt CT, and "the reds" are those cus- toners who argue a salesgal to a point bordering on exhaustion. A shopper who unfolds her life story while purchasing pair of stock ings or 8 handkerchief is known as "Gabby Gertie," and "a su5- deb" is a little old lady who wears junior miss sizes. When the depart ment buyer heaves into view, the girls behind the counter have their own conversational code to tip-off their co-workers = simply "the Queen Bee is coming"
 Hit and Run
 Up around the Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds, slang is a finley developed art. And yet the boys in the grandstand and those down on the base-paths each speak 8 set of phrases that is totally different. To a baseball fan, a scratch hit can mean but one thing, but to the fellows in uniform it acn be a rubber" ''blooper," !" "bleeder" or "squib."
 The man with the score-card calls 8 left-handed pitcher "a southpaw," but the ball players themselves would more than likely call him "cockeyed," "twirly thnmbs call him "cockeyed," "twirly thumbs" or "corkscrew." A "sugarbrush" is 8 rookie, and a good curve ball is "a sugar handle" Ballplayers never speak of a "beanball" or "dusting off," With them it's sticking 1t in somebody's ear."
 But leave it to Casey Stengel, the managerial genius of the doddering Dodgers, to concoct the games lat- est bit of idiom. To Casey a hy-ball is a "can O corn." Why? Casey doesn't know himself.
 
 Theatrical Phrases
 But leave 1t to Broadway to spawn the most bewildering and colorful contributions to Manhat- tan's collection of slang.
 For example: an actor is Mac Avoy" when he steals bows, Q "short con" is a small time mooch- CT, and all piano players are "or- gan grinders" When Q stage die rector says "spot the doll'' he means "throw the spotlight on the feminine performer" Laying an egg" means that a show or enter tainment Hops badly: and an acrO- bat has to go through life with the tag ',kinker" attached to him.