23 Skidoo

So, I've named my blog, renamed my blog, renamed it again, changed it, changed it again, and finally settled on a name. I'm not even sure that it really makes sense, but it sort of makes sense to me. For some reason, I've had the phrase, "23 skidoo," on my brain. I think I heard it on the radio sometime in the past 6 months, and thought it was hilarious. In fact, I'll provide the wikipedia definition (which is always reliable...):

23 skidoo (sometimes 23 skiddoo) is an American slang phrase popularized in the early twentieth century, first appearing before World War I and becoming popular in the Roaring Twenties. It generally refers to leaving quickly, being forced to leave quickly by someone else, or taking advantage of a propitious opportunity to leave, that is, "getting [out] while the getting's good." The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain.

23 skidoo has been described as "perhaps the first truly national fad expression and one of the most popular fad expressions to appear in the U.S," to the extent that "Pennants and arm-bands at shore resorts, parks, and county fairs bore either [23] or the word 'Skiddoo.'"^[1]

Yeah, so it is an old phrase from the twenties, back when smoking lucky strike cigarettes were good for you... even according to doctors... and heroin had been introduced only ten years earlier as a safe non addictive alternative to other painkillers on the market.

Oh, and the, "...and Tyler too!" is actually the second part of an old presidential slogan from the 1840s where William Henry Harrison and John Tyler were going up against Martin Van Buren (infamous leader of the Van Buren Boys of NYC). The actual slogan is, "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too." I think that it sounds pretty snappy. Check it out, and if you're curious, just google it.

So, 23 Skidoo and Tyler too, doesn't really mean anything. I really just like the sound of the words, and love to speak those words to my dog, like it means something... which it does not. I would love to have some sort of deep meaningful explanation of what those phrases mean, and why they're together, but I just don't. They are random and meaningless. Just like the career of a priest or clergyman.