ABOUT US
The 4GreatLiving.com,
23skiddo.com, 23skiddoGolf.com and 23skiddo4Kids.com web sites
were founded by Micro Software Solutions, Inc. to bring unique
products to the home and to different family members. The 23skiddo.com
web site has subsequently been merged into the 4greatliving.com
web site.
The 4GreatLiving.com
store offers unique living products for the home and family. If
you know of a unique product that you feel that we should be interested
in or if you have a recipe that you would like to share, please
let us know at custserv@4GreatLiving.com.
The origin
of the 23skiddo name and logo:
Note:
the following is quoted from the research of Margaret Fountain
of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada to whom we are grateful.
23 Skiddo
was an expression meaning 'lets be on the move'. In the 1920's
high society used the phrase to reflect the mood of their fun
filled times. Are you surprised?
One suggested
origin is 'skedaddle'.
In 1926,
C.T. Ryan was quoted in American speech Vol. II 92.I "I really
do not recall which appeared first in my vocabulary, the use of
'some' for emphasis or that effective but horrible '23-skiddoo'
- perhaps they were simultaneous". That amused me, considering
how language evolves. 23skiddo is so harmless today.
In 1906
J. F. Kelly in man with grip wrote "as for Belmont and Ryan
and the rest of that bunch, skidoo for that crowd". In the
same reference "I can see a reason for skidoo', said one
'and for '23' also. Skidoo from skids and 23 from 23rd street
that has ferries and depots for 80 percent of the railroads leaving
New York."
From other
sources I concluded that it is indeed antique North American slang
significant to one generation. Most slang is offensive and misunderstood
by the established generation therefore when your mother was uttering
23skiddo, your grandmother was probably shaking her head! your
generation remembers it, but it has become ineffective as speech.
The accepted
spelling is either Skiddo or Skiddoo and in this day of shortened
words it is appropriate for Skiddo to be included. I had fun looking
this up. I hope it amuses you and the next time someone asks you
have another suggested idea of its meaning.
There are other
explanations. The next three came from an inquiry to Ask A Linguist.
1. The Flatiron Building in NYC is the origin of the expression
"23 skiddo".
2. During its heyday 23 skiddo was an expression to behold. Wentworth
and Flexner credit it as having been "perhaps the first truly
national fad expression and one of the most popular fad expressions
to appear in the United States." The great beauty of 23 skiddo
was its versatility. It could be used to mean almost anything,
ranging from enthusiastic approval to dismissive rejection.
3. According to the Jeopardy show on TV, the origin of this phrase
came from the fact that due to the arrangement of several buildings
in either Chicago or New York, wind would funnel down at 23rd
St./Ave. and lift up the skirts from ladies in the 20s or 30s.
Police were told to keep loitering men moving along and give them
the 23 skiddo.