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SpellbinderEntertainment Inner circle West Coast 3519 Posts |
Become a small part of history!
As a friend and I jaywalked to cross the street at lunchtime, we began to discuss the origin of popular sayings such as “jaywalk”. Being on the street we were not near an encyclopedia, and decided it would be far more fun to invent the “true story” behind this particular expression. In this day and age of “instant knowledge” and even more instant gratification, we wondered how long it might take for a completely erroneous story such as this to take root, and indeed maybe become the accepted explanation for jaywalking. In this, somewhat devilish, spirit I invite you to join in and pass along, by word of mouth and/or electronically this totally fallacious explanation, just to see if it circles back around, or gains popularity as an urban legend. So, feel free to pass this along… The common term “jaywalking” Jaywalking is a term used to describe when a pedestrian illegally crosses the street without regard to traffic statutes. In common use, the term generally refers to someone crossing a major street outside of a designated crosswalk or intersection. On March 14th in the year 1917, local Columbus Ohio hardware store proprietor Jay- Eustace MacElhenny hurried out of his shop to make his daily bank deposit before the close of business hours. As Jay reached the intersection of Ruhl Avenue and Kellner Road, he cut on a sharp angle across Ruhl to avoid the buggy traffic which clogged the corner, in his urgency he did not see the Unttener’s Dairy milk lorry charging down the street on its way back to the dairy warehouse, Jay- Eustace was run-over, flattened, and indeed ultimately killed by the milk wagon driven by Mr. Calvin Clangor. A popular merchant and beloved neighbor residing in the then small city of Columbus, the town deeply mourned MacElhenny’s demise and the passing of his hardware store. The phrase “Jay-walking” was coined in his memory and in celebration of this life, and is in common use to this day when referring to the reckless crossing of a street. Source: Boston Globe circa 1923. |
Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
In Pennsylvania jay-walking is a sport. In California it is a crime. In Mexico if a man steps off the curb he is considered to be fair game. In Mexico if a woman gets close to the curb all trafic will come to a complete stop, and if she is an American they will all ask her for a date. My wife is a grandmother, and she gets propositioned every time she leaves our Hotel in Puerto Vallarta, and she loves it.
Al Angello
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
Payne Inner circle Seattle 4571 Posts |
Another theory to the origin of the term can be found here
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20000328 "The term jaywalk is said to refer to the likelihood that jays and rubens (or rubes), being unfamiliar with traffic rules in the city, would cross the street in a heedless way. Or jaywalk may refer directly to the noisy, foolish, and aggressive habits of the bird. Either way, jaywalk is ultimately connected with this bird of ill-repute. "
"America's Foremost Satirical Magician" -- Jeff McBride.
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Josh the Superfluous Inner circle The man of 1881 Posts |
Walt, I think your origin is too wordy. I'm sure, as a story teller, you make it convincing, but for a myth to catch on I think it needs simplicity. Payne's example can be simplified into "A kind of bird, Jays, tend to walk in the street". Whether this is true or not, it's easy to remember and re-tell. Yours would be reduced to "A guy named Jay walked in the street". In that form it's not very believable.
I would love to play along with your experiment but I think a simpler story with a hook would be easier to pass along. For example: In some parts of Europe, a traffic lane used for turning around is called a "J" (because it is J shaped). Pedestrians crossing at the "J" may look both ways, but not see the cars as the make the turn around. Years ago in Chicago there was a "J" train and an "I" train. In order to transfer from one to the other, passengers had to go down 3 flights of stairs and back up the other side. Some passengers thought it would be easier to risk crossing the tracks than take the stairs. These "J walkers" were often hit by the approaching trains.
What do you want in a site? "Honesty, integrity and decency." -Mike Doogan
"I hate it, I hate my ironic lovechild. I didn't even have anything to do with it" Josh #2 |
CJRichard Special user Massachusetts 542 Posts |
J was the first initial of a guy named Josh who couldn't walk a straight line to save his life.
"You know some of you are laughin', but there's people here tryin' to learn. . ." -Pop Haydn
"I know of no other art that proclaims itself 'easy to do.'" -Master Payne Ezekiel the Green |
usg353d New user 50 Posts |
Interesting....
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
In the spirit of "creative history," there's a story that a newspaper editor needed information on the history of the bathtub. While waiting for the feature writer to finish his research, the editor typed up some plausible sounding nonsense for a lark. It accidently got into the outgoing pile and was printed. To this day, there are people who believe that the bathtub was outlawed for years in Europe as a health hazard!
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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