Any NJ/NY residents remember "sliding ponds"?

[nancy g.]

This isn't exactly my question -- what with the holidays and all,
I've been so busy that I've employed a ghost writer to do my newsgroup
posting for me.

(OK, OK, so I'll explain that I have a houseguest who's finding it
easier to use my ID than to set up my newsreader to make it appear
that he's himself.)

Anyway, the question really is from *both* of us. "Sliding ponds"??

Here's the question, written by a committee of two posting from
my PC:

-----

My SO, Jim Dear, posed an etymlogy question of a phrase I've *never* heard
before he brought it up. Now, I'm noticing the phrase in New Jersey news
stories about playground accidents and the like. Here's the question
Jim Dear asks:
==========
The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
==========

Nancy "slide down my cellar door" G.

[Perchprism]

nancy and an other of indeterminate significance wrote:
>From: "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>
>Date: 12/29/98 7:28 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368973C7...@tiac.net>

You must mean that other state, North Jersey. I'm Salth Jersey to the bone and
I've never heard it. When I was a boy, we called them sliding boards, not
slides, and the part underneath was the ground.

By the way, it's "Jerseyites," which looks downright biblical to me now that I
type it.

Perchprism -- readproofer

[David Monack]

>>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
>>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
>>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding
pond,"
>>
>>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any
clues
>>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
>
>You must mean that other state, North Jersey. I'm Salth Jersey to the
bone and
>I've never heard it. When I was a boy, we called them sliding boards, not
>slides, and the part underneath was the ground.

I lived the first 18 years of my life in North Jersey (Morris County) and
have never heard the term "sliding pond". We always called it a "slide."

>
>By the way, it's "Jerseyites," which looks downright biblical to me now
that I
>type it.

In North Jersey, we say "Jerseyans".

[Blake]

David Monack wrote:

> >>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
> >>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
> >>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding
> pond,"
> >>
> >>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any
> clues
> >>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
> >
> >
>

> I lived the first 18 years of my life in North Jersey (Morris County) and
> have never heard the term "sliding pond". We always called it a "slide."
>
>

Ditto (from a 12-year resident of central NJ).

Blake

[nancy g.]

David Monack wrote:

> (quoting Perchprism)

>> (quoting my previous note)

> >> The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
> >> ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
> >> in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding
> >> pond," which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected.
> >> Any clues on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"

>> You must mean that other state, North Jersey. I'm Salth Jersey to the

>> bone and I've never heard it. When I was a boy, we called them sliding boards,
>> not slides, and the part underneath was the ground.

> I lived the first 18 years of my life in North Jersey (Morris County) and

> have never heard the term "sliding pond". We always called it a "slide."

Well, the aforementioned S.O. is on his way home (driving right through the
land of sliding ponds, as a matter of fact, even though they're probably all
frozen over right now) so I'm back to being a Single Poster again ...

And I have to go along with the replies so far -- I'd never ever heard the
phrase "sliding pond" either -- we always called them just "slides" here in
New England, although people of our parents' generation did often call them
"sliding boards".

But the phrase "sliding pond" is a legitimate term for them, although it's
beginning to look more and more like a regionalism from a *very* small region.
When he first used the phrase, I looked it up on Alta Vista -- it got 31 hits,
but several of those were from a manufacturer of swimming pools. When I ruled
out those sites, I wound up with 14 hits. Three of those were from the same
manufacturer of playground equipment, who didn't actually have "sliding ponds"
for sale but who had planted that phrase in their hidden HTML key words in case
anyone was searching for the term. The company itself is located in Colorado.
Can't figure that one out, unless one of their employees is a transplated ...
um ... whatever it is we've decided a resident of New Jersey is called.
Another hit on the phrase turned out to be talking about a slide on the edge
of a pond, so I eliminated that one too.

That left me with ten apparently legitimate hits:

The West Milford, NJ, News Journal police blotter reports the following:
7/10/98 - An unknown actor threw a rock through a window and
broke a platform to a sliding pond at the playground at Upper
Greenwood Lake School.

An "I Love Lucy" episode guide -- no indication of who wrote the guide, though,
or where they're from. (This same episode guide appeared at two sites):
61-The Ricardos Change Apartments. Lucy fills her apartment with
junk, including a sliding pond and teeter-totter, to give it a "cramped"
appearance. This is the episode when the Ricardos move up in the world...
to apartment 3-B.

An article from a list of articles described as "written for Newsday and a local
Jewish paper" -- which could place this one in Jersey as well:
"Before I left for the airport, we went for a couple of last rides
on the sliding pond in a nearby playground."

"Soap Opera Digest" quoting a soap actor talking about his son. The actor
apparently has lived in several parts of the country, so there's no telling
where he picked up the phrase:
Meanwhile, Nicholas was becoming as comfortable around a sound stage
as he was around a sliding pond - maybe a little too comfortable,
his father admits.

Two different sites quote a poem by an author from New York:
a caramel candy sticking in your teeth
you, age three
bugged
bearing down on a sliding pond.
your pulled tooth in my hand (age six)

This one is by a student at some (unknown) film school:
Fade in on an establishing shot of a playground. It is a cloudy
day, and no one can be seen. Three or four swings are rocking
back and forth. Some monkey bars and a sliding pond are visible,
as well as see-saws.

One came from some X-Files fanfic, unknown author:
Mulder walked around the equipment thinking things were sure
different since he was a kid. He remembered being happy with
a sliding pond, a see-saw and a swing.

And the final reference came from a very intriguing site, which I'd really
rather forget about (hint: pedophilia). Let's just say it *did* use
the phrase "sliding pond" to mean a playground slide, and leave it at that.

nancy g.
coming up next: the "icicles" vs. "tinsel" debate

[Rachel Meredith Kadel-Garcia]

On Tue, 29 Dec 1998 19:28:55 -0500, nancy g. <nan...@tiac.net> wrote:

>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"

I can't answer your question, except to say that "New Jersey" is an
overly broad provenance for this phrase. I lived in Trenton in
1985-86 and in Princeton in 1987-94. My family still lives there.
I've never heard that phrase used; I would have assumed it meant a
small body of water, frozen over, on which people slide (perhaps on
skates, perhaps on sleds, perhaps freestyle) for amusement. The
apparatus of which you speak is called a slide, or occasionally a
sliding board, in central New Jersey.

Rachel

[Perchprism]

nancy wrote:
>From: "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>

>Date: 12/30/98 12:33 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368A63CC...@tiac.net>

<snip>

>And I have to go along with the replies so far -- I'd never ever heard the
>phrase "sliding pond" either -- we always called them just "slides" here in
>New England, although people of our parents' generation did often call them
>"sliding boards".
>
>But the phrase "sliding pond" is a legitimate term for them, although it's
>beginning to look more and more like a regionalism from a *very* small
>region.

<snip copious attestations>

I believed you, I just never heard it before. You got me wondering how old it
is. A look in my books under "pond" shows that it is a variant of "pound,"
enclosure, and that in Middle English "pond" was used instead of "pound" in
some regions. I wonder whether this "pond" is not a fossil of an old "pound,"
giving "sliding pond," enclosure where a sliding board is. But that feels like
a reach.

Perchprism -- readproofer

[nancy g.]

Perchprism wrote:

> I believed you, I just never heard it before. You got me wondering how old it
> is. A look in my books under "pond" shows that it is a variant of "pound,"
> enclosure, and that in Middle English "pond" was used instead of "pound" in
> some regions. I wonder whether this "pond" is not a fossil of an old "pound,"
> giving "sliding pond," enclosure where a sliding board is. But that feels like
> a reach.

We've been trying to come up with possible explanations for the phrase,
but that's one we've missed so far. I agree it's reaching, but not completely
out of the realm of possibility. My etymology book points out that the original
meaning of "pond" often meant a body of water *of artificial formation*, which
would fit nicely with your theory.

The only other possible/plausible idea I'd come up with was that maybe in the days
before playground slides, children used to slide down the sloping banks of a pond
into the water. (Also a reach, I agree.)

What intrigues me most, since regional differences are my particular interest,
is that the term seems to be used only in such a small geographical area.
I can't figure out any possible explanation for that.

nancy g.

[Robert Bryan Lipton]

>David Monack wrote:
>
>> >>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
>> >>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard)
except
>> >>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding
>> pond,"
>> >>
>> >>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any
>> clues
>> >>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
>> >
>> >
>>

>> I lived the first 18 years of my life in North Jersey (Morris County) and
>> have never heard the term "sliding pond". We always called it a "slide."
>>

I grew up on Long Island and a sliding pond was a water slide: one that
emptied into any body of water from the Atlantic ocean down to an inflatable
wading pool. The really ritzy ones had water tubed up to publicate your
slide all the way down, ending in a terrific splash.

Bob

[danny or doreen dong]

On Tue, 29 Dec 1998 19:28:55 -0500, "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>
wrote:

>This isn't exactly my question -- what with the holidays and all,

>I've been so busy that I've employed a ghost writer to do my newsgroup
>posting for me.
>
>(OK, OK, so I'll explain that I have a houseguest who's finding it
>easier to use my ID than to set up my newsreader to make it appear
>that he's himself.)
>
>Anyway, the question really is from *both* of us. "Sliding ponds"??
>
>Here's the question, written by a committee of two posting from
>my PC:
>
>-----
>
>My SO, Jim Dear, posed an etymlogy question of a phrase I've *never* heard
>before he brought it up. Now, I'm noticing the phrase in New Jersey news
>stories about playground accidents and the like. Here's the question
>Jim Dear asks:
>==========

>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"

>==========
>
>Nancy "slide down my cellar door" G.

I grew up in Queens,NY and we always called them "sliding ponds". My
kids and their friends (still in Queens ) , however, call them
"slides", so I gues it's changed.

Doren.

[Jesse the K]

Yet another fascinating question, which is why you're in my highlight file.

Unhappily, the funding for the Dictionary of American Regional English has
been cut back, and the last volume out was Volume III (I-O) in 1996.
They're hoping for the last two volumes at 7-1/2 yrs intervals. Their site
does say:

> The DARE Editors may be contacted by mail at
> 6125 Helen White Hall
> 600 North Park Street
> Madison, WI 53706
>
> phone 608 263-3810
> e-mail jdh...@facstaff.wisc.edu
> lvon...@facstaff.wisc.edu

In article <368AA72F...@tiac.net>, "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net> wrote:

> Perchprism wrote:
>
> > [snip] A look in my books under "pond" shows that it is a variant of

"pound,"
> > enclosure, and that in Middle English "pond" was used instead of "pound" in
> > some regions. I wonder whether this "pond" is not a fossil of an old
"pound,"
> > giving "sliding pond," enclosure where a sliding board is. But that
feels like
> > a reach.

Hence a "dog pound" as holding pen for free-spirited canines. Aha!

[snip]

> The only other possible/plausible idea I'd come up with was that maybe
in the days
> before playground slides, children used to slide down the sloping banks
of a pond
> into the water. (Also a reach, I agree.)
>
> What intrigues me most, since regional differences are my particular
interest,
> is that the term seems to be used only in such a small geographical area.
> I can't figure out any possible explanation for that.

Could be that, back in the days before one could buy a molded plastic
slide at any Walmart, there were just a couple folks who fashioned the
devices from piping and sheet metal. Perhaps they were the Pound Family
Plumbers, and in addition to first-class brazing, welding, and soldering,
the whole lot of 'em enjoyed recreational etymology. Anyhow, when a school
or other organization wanted recreational equipment, they'd always call on
the Pounds, and *they* decided to call this magic device that has brought
such delight to many generations "a sliding pond."

Well, another reach, but it was fun....
--
Jesse the K -- Madison Wisconsin USA
Where am I going, and how did I get in this handbasket?

[greg]

Checked with my parents. My father, who spent his childhood in Astoria,
Queens, NYC, called it a "sliding pond." My mother, who lived near Boston
till age 5, called it a "shootie-shoot"! (Chutie-chute, perhaps?)

Greg

[Karl Reinhardt]

On Tue, 29 Dec 1998 19:28:55 -0500, "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>
wrote:

>The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
>ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
>in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
>which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
>on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
>==========
>
>Nancy "slide down my cellar door" G.

I was raised in New Jersey (Ridgewood, in the Northern part of the
state) in the 30s and 40s. I never heard of a "sliding pond." I am
also unfamiliar with "Jerseyian."
Karl

[Perchprism]

nancy wrote:
>From: "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>

>Date: 12/30/98 5:20 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368AA72F...@tiac.net>

>
>Perchprism wrote:
>
>> I believed you, I just never heard it before. You got me wondering how old
>it

>> is. A look in my books under "pond" shows that it is a variant of "pound,"

>> enclosure, and that in Middle English "pond" was used instead of "pound" in
>> some regions. I wonder whether this "pond" is not a fossil of an old
>"pound,"
>> giving "sliding pond," enclosure where a sliding board is. But that feels
>like
>> a reach.
>

>We've been trying to come up with possible explanations for the phrase,
>but that's one we've missed so far. I agree it's reaching, but not
>completely
>out of the realm of possibility. My etymology book points out that the
>original
>meaning of "pond" often meant a body of water *of artificial formation*,
>which
>would fit nicely with your theory.
>

>The only other possible/plausible idea I'd come up with was that maybe in the
>days
>before playground slides, children used to slide down the sloping banks of a
>pond
>into the water. (Also a reach, I agree.)
>
>What intrigues me most, since regional differences are my particular
>interest,
>is that the term seems to be used only in such a small geographical area.
>I can't figure out any possible explanation for that.

The center seems to be moving from Jersey to NYC, from which it leaked, I'll
bet. Perhaps a foreign import or a corruption of same?

Perchprism -- readproofer

[JimDear]

Perchprism <perch...@aol.com> wrote in article <19981231072037...@ng38.aol.com>...

> The center seems to be moving from Jersey to NYC, from which it leaked, I'll
> bet. Perhaps a foreign import or a corruption of same?

If Morris County, NJ is the western edge of the pond phenom, then I'd guess it's roughly bounded by
the Watchung Mountains in NJ, north to Putnam County, NY, and east to Nassau County on Long Island.

Are there any Pond People south of, say, Middlesex County, NJ? Do children use sliding ponds in CT?

Jim "trying hard to remember the manufacturer's name etched through each stair" Dear

[Reinhold (Rey) Aman]

[Posted and mailed]

Garry J. Vass wrote:

> In article <19981231072037...@ng38.aol.com>, Perchprism
> <perch...@aol.com> writes

> >
> >The center seems to be moving from Jersey to NYC, from which it leaked, I'll
> >bet. Perhaps a foreign import or a corruption of same?
> >
>

> Joyzee? Simebidy say Joyzee?
>
> Well, I was 9 wonderful years as Exit 16-E, ferTroo. So my question,
> Perch and Mrs Perch, is quite simple:
>
> [1] Do you read the 'Courier News'? Said newspaper containing many
> adverts for 'Sudden Joyzee'. eh? EH?

Did you mean the Cherry Hill "Courier-Post"? If so, it's at
<http://www.courierpostonline.com/>

--
Reinhold (Rey) Aman
Editor & Publisher, MALEDICTA
Santa Rosa, CA 95402, USA
http://www.sonic.net/maledicta/

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <19981231072037...@ng38.aol.com>, Perchprism
<perch...@aol.com> writes
>
>The center seems to be moving from Jersey to NYC, from which it leaked, I'll
>bet. Perhaps a foreign import or a corruption of same?
>

Joyzee? Simebidy say Joyzee?

Well, I was 9 wonderful years as Exit 16-E, ferTroo. So my question,
Perch and Mrs Perch, is quite simple:

[1] Do you read the 'Courier News'? Said newspaper containing many
adverts for 'Sudden Joyzee'. eh? EH?

[2] If [1] is 'yes', do you use said newspaper to wrap peanut butter
bound for Merkin expats in the UK? eh? EH???

[3] If [1] and [2] are true, please accept my humble gratitude and
eternal umpdeeump. And, as the Joyzees say, 'dih dih dih dih'.

Ind to oo-wool the ryest of use goyse: gitduh eff owdah heeyah.
--
Garry J. Vass

[Perchprism]

Garry wrote:
>From: "Garry J. Vass" <Ga...@gvass.demon.co.uk>
>Date: 12/31/98 7:56 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <XdPzxCAB...@gvass.demon.co.uk>

>
>In article <19981231072037...@ng38.aol.com>, Perchprism
><perch...@aol.com> writes
>>
>>The center seems to be moving from Jersey to NYC, from which it leaked, I'll
>>bet. Perhaps a foreign import or a corruption of same?
>>
>
>Joyzee? Simebidy say Joyzee?
>
>Well, I was 9 wonderful years as Exit 16-E, ferTroo. So my question,
>Perch and Mrs Perch, is quite simple:
>
>[1] Do you read the 'Courier News'? Said newspaper containing many
>adverts for 'Sudden Joyzee'. eh? EH?

"Post." "Courier Post."

>[2] If [1] is 'yes', do you use said newspaper to wrap peanut butter
>bound for Merkin expats in the UK? eh? EH???

Been known to, yeah.

>[3] If [1] and [2] are true, please accept my humble gratitude and
>eternal umpdeeump. And, as the Joyzees say, 'dih dih dih dih'.

May it stick to the roof of your mind in Holiday joy and English usage.

>Ind to oo-wool the ryest of use goyse: gitduh eff owdah heeyah.

You haven't lost the ear. "Oo-wool," indeed. Nobody who hasn't heard it could
believe it.

Perchprism -- Eggzit 3

[nancy g.]

Perchprism wrote:

> Garry wrote:

>> Joyzee? Simebidy say Joyzee?

(snip)

>> Ind to oo-wool the ryest of use goyse: gitduh eff owdah heeyah.

> You haven't lost the ear. "Oo-wool," indeed.
> Nobody who hasn't heard it could believe it.
>
> Perchprism -- Eggzit 3

Hey, youse guys! Youse'll probbly like dis, den:

http://plj.com/bigshow/jerseygirl.html

It's a parody of that inexplicably popular "Barbie Girl" song,
called "Jersey Girl", with lyrics corresponding to the new title.
A sample:

Guy: Hey ya Tiffany...
Girl: Hey Rocco
Guy: You wanna go down the shore or what?
Girl: Friggin 'a.
I'm a Jersey girl, in a Jersey world.
I look fantastic, my pants are plastic.

There's one called "Jersey Guy" too:

http://plj.com/bigshow/jerseyguy.html

It starts this way:

"Hey Carmine"
"Hey Paulie, so you wanna rip apart my dads Chevy?"
"Abso-freakin'-lutely!"
I'm a jersey guy, I love pizza pie;
My friend Tony, likes pepperoni
Work out at Gold's Gym to get fit and trim;
I'm Eye-talian, look at my medallion

nancy g.
I-87 to I-287 to I-78 and then
back again at least once a month,
right past that new Palisades mall

[Lawrence (Leeray) Fender]

Mimi Kahn wrote in message <368b93d2...@news.mindspring.com>...
>On Wed, 30 Dec 1998 01:08:22 -0500, "David Monack" <mon...@erols.com>
>wrote:

>>>I've never heard it. When I was a boy, we called them sliding boards, not
>>>slides, and the part underneath was the ground.
>>

>>I lived the first 18 years of my life in North Jersey (Morris County) and
>>have never heard the term "sliding pond". We always called it a "slide."
>

>I remember "sliding pond" from my childhood in New York. I haven't
>heard the expression for years, though.

>Mimi

Why are slides a girl thing? Why do boys always play elseware?
What exactly gets stimulated when a female slides? Is it a form of
masturbation? Thought you might know.

Leeray

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <368C5667...@tiac.net>, nancy g. <nan...@tiac.net>
writes

>Hey, youse guys! Youse'll probbly like dis, den:
>
> http://plj.com/bigshow/jerseygirl.html
>

Nancy,

What a hoot! Thanks for this link..
--
Garry J. Vass
'...like a vision, she dances across the porch...'

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <19981231222135...@ng11.aol.com>, Perchprism
<perch...@aol.com> writes

>May it stick to the roof of your mind in Holiday joy and English usage.
>

Lookin' for spoon right now...

Thanks, Perch!

obAUE: Thank goodness *SOME* people know where the bread is buttered.
--
Garry J. Vass

[Perchprism]

nancy wrote:
>From: "nancy g." <nan...@tiac.net>

>Date: 1/1/99 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368C5667...@tiac.net>

>
>Perchprism wrote:
>
>> Garry wrote:
>
>>> Joyzee? Simebidy say Joyzee?
>
>(snip)
>
>>> Ind to oo-wool the ryest of use goyse: gitduh eff owdah heeyah.
>
>> You haven't lost the ear. "Oo-wool," indeed.
>> Nobody who hasn't heard it could believe it.
>>
>> Perchprism -- Eggzit 3
>
>

>Hey, youse guys! Youse'll probbly like dis, den:
>
> http://plj.com/bigshow/jerseygirl.html

Brutal.

Just for the record, that's North Jersey. Different state from mine.

Perchprism -- readproofer

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

On 1 Jan 1999 16:56:53 GMT, perch...@aol.com (Perchprism)
wrote:

>Just for the record, that's North Jersey. Different state from mine.
>
>Perchprism -- readproofer

The spirit of Secession lives! Westminster finally recognised
that Cumbria was not Lancashire a few years ago and unPalatined
it. Today Cumbria, tomorrow Jersey South, who knows?

[Perchprism]

a1a wrote:
>From: a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>Date: 1/1/99 2:01 PM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368d1b3b...@news.bctel.ca>

Playground cliques are these compared with those over the blood-soaked soil of
the Old World, to be sure, but we care -- a little. There actually was (is?) a
secession movement, but only the lunatic fringe disobey the television here.

Perchprism -- readproofer

[Lawrence (Leeray) Fender]

Mimi Kahn wrote in message <368e0012...@news.mindspring.com>...

>On Fri, 1 Jan 1999 01:42:23 -0000, "Lawrence (Leeray) Fender"
><LLFe...@falseaddress.com> wrote:

>>Why are slides a girl thing? Why do boys always play elseware?
>>What exactly gets stimulated when a female slides? Is it a form of
>>masturbation? Thought you might know.
>>
>>Leeray
>

>When I was a kid, both boys and girls slid down slides.

>
>Mimi

Your shyness is understandable, but my wife admits to having orgasms
as young as 11 from sliding down those park slides. She says her friends
all shared the same, then unknown to them, sensations. Perhaps you're
frigid?

Leeray

[Lawrence (Leeray) Fender]

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <76k4o3$jds$1...@remarQ.com>, Lawrence (Leeray) Fender
<LLFe...@falseaddress.com> writes

>Your shyness is understandable, but my wife admits to having orgasms
>as young as 11 from sliding down those park slides. She says her friends

Hello Leeray,

Thanks for sharing about your wife's orgasms at age 11. It is quite
remarkable that she remembers these, and has acquainted you with her
memories. And indeed, we are lacking for testimony on female orgasms
recently.

Are you working up to some point about the English language here?
--
Garry J. Vass

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

On 1 Jan 1999 21:52:06 GMT, perch...@aol.com (Perchprism)
wrote:

At the risk of seeming Tolkienian, as Izzy has it, lunatic
fringes swing elections.

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

On Sat, 2 Jan 1999 04:11:44 +0000, "Garry J. Vass"
<Ga...@gvass.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>Are you working up to some point about the English language here?
>--
>Garry J. Vass

Garry, Garry. of course not. he is warming up to peanut butter
and churches.

I see you were asking about Mother Goose. Perrault's Contes de ma
me`re l'oye appeared in 1697. Pepys died in 1703. What date did
the Mother Goose tablet "above" the Pepys tablet carry? All I
can find out, from a glance through what I've got, is that the
"Mother Goose" nursery rhymes first appeared in Boston, Mass. --
a good deal later than Perrault's book.

[Lawrence (Leeray) Fender]

On Sat, 2 Jan 1999 04:11:44 +0000, "Garry J. Vass"
<Ga...@gvass.demon.co.uk> wrote:

>In article <76k4o3$jds$1...@remarQ.com>, Lawrence (Leeray) Fender
><LLFe...@falseaddress.com> writes
>>Your shyness is understandable, but my wife admits to having orgasms
>>as young as 11 from sliding down those park slides. She says her friends
>
>Hello Leeray,
>
>Thanks for sharing about your wife's orgasms at age 11.

Would your wife like to share?

>It is quite
>remarkable that she remembers these, and has acquainted you with her
>memories.

A bit disingenuous I'd say, we all remember our first.

>And indeed, we are lacking for testimony on female orgasms
>recently.

Feel free to speak up, Garry, my girl.

>Are you working up to some point about the English language here?

No, I was hoping you would finally discover the purpose of this
newsgroup yourself. Get on topic!

>Garry J. Vass

Leeray

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <368d6e1...@news.newsguy.com>, Lawrence (Leeray) Fender
<leer...@vegie.net.com> writes

>
>No, I was hoping you would finally discover the purpose of this
>newsgroup yourself. Get on topic!
>

Sorry about that, Leeray. Your deja profile is too scant to tell if you
might be interesting or not, and I thought you might be able to provide
some insight (which you've done). Sorry to bother you.

--
Garry J. Vass

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <368dcc4d...@news.bctel.ca>, a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
writes

>I see you were asking about Mother Goose. Perrault's Contes de ma
>me`re l'oye appeared in 1697. Pepys died in 1703. What date did
>the Mother Goose tablet "above" the Pepys tablet carry?

1586

>All I
>can find out, from a glance through what I've got, is that the
>"Mother Goose" nursery rhymes first appeared in Boston, Mass. --
>a good deal later than Perrault's book.

Hello a1!

Are you turning 'legit'? Of course, this would be delightful, but I
just seek confirmation.
--
Garry J. Vass

[Perchprism]

a1a wrote:
>From: a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>Date: 1/2/99 2:38 AM Eastern Standard Time
>Message-id: <368dcc22...@news.bctel.ca>

>
>On 1 Jan 1999 21:52:06 GMT, perch...@aol.com (Perchprism)
>wrote:
>
>>a1a wrote:
>>>From: a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
>>>Date: 1/1/99 2:01 PM Eastern Standard Time
>>>Message-id: <368d1b3b...@news.bctel.ca>
>>>
>>>On 1 Jan 1999 16:56:53 GMT, perch...@aol.com (Perchprism)
>>>wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>>Just for the record, that's North Jersey. Different state from mine.
>>>>
>>>

>>>The spirit of Secession lives! Westminster finally recognised
>>>that Cumbria was not Lancashire a few years ago and unPalatined
>>>it. Today Cumbria, tomorrow Jersey South, who knows?
>>
>>Playground cliques are these compared with those over the blood-soaked soil
>of
>>the Old World, to be sure, but we care -- a little. There actually was (is?)
>a
>>secession movement, but only the lunatic fringe disobey the television here.
>

>At the risk of seeming Tolkienian, as Izzy has it, lunatic
>fringes swing elections.

Lufriswiel? Teutonically terrible, maybe.

Perchprism -- readproofer

[doppelganger]

On Sat, 02 Jan 1999 08:11:57 -0800, spam...@merriewood.com (Mimi
Kahn) wrote:

>On Sat, 02 Jan 1999 00:53:50 GMT, leer...@vegie.net.com (Lawrence
>(Leeray) Fender) wrote:

>>Leeray

>YM Piddie. HTH.

>Mimi

hi

comments?

plonks?

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

>Garry J. Vass

Hey! Charity begins with Garry.

I think the tablet {placed about half a dozen generations before
Perrault's book appeared, the way people bred in the prosperity
following wars) was not connected with the nursery rhymes. Check
for a 16th century priest called Goose: those guys had a lot of
leeway back then.

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

On 2 Jan 1999 17:57:16 GMT, perch...@aol.com (Perchprism)
wrote:

>a1a wrote:
[ ]

>>> There actually was (is?) a
>>>secession movement, but only the lunatic fringe disobey the television here.
>>
>>At the risk of seeming Tolkienian, as Izzy has it, lunatic
>>fringes swing elections.
>
>Lufriswiel? Teutonically terrible, maybe.
>
>Perchprism -- readproofer

I know, I know: I must go and read the _Irish Times_ for a review
of a Dutch critique of _Mein Kampf_. Rotsaruc.

[Garry J. Vass]

In article <368e8a02...@news.bctel.ca>, a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca
writes

>I think the tablet {placed about half a dozen generations before
>Perrault's book appeared, the way people bred in the prosperity
>following wars) was not connected with the nursery rhymes. Check
>for a 16th century priest called Goose: those guys had a lot of
>leeway back then.

Did that, to no avail. I like the vagrant (vagrantessa) theory better
anyway.
--
Garry J. Vass

[a1a5...@bc.sympatico.ca]

On Tue, 5 Jan 1999 08:00:06 +0000, "Garry J. Vass"
<Ga...@gvass.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>Did that, to no avail. I like the vagrant (vagrantessa) theory better
>anyway.

Try the convents for a sister.

[Piddi...@aol.com]

In article <368e0a43...@news.newsguy.com>,

> KiSs mE BaBy! I sTiLl gOt MiSSlE ToE OvEr My HeAd!
ThePiDdIE >>>SMOOCH!<<<

-----------== Posted via Deja News, The Discussion Network ==----------
http://www.dejanews.com/ Search, Read, Discuss, or Start Your Own

[elaine...@yahoo.com]

Sliding pond. Yes I remember them in the parks.
Never thought why they were called that.

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

On Tue, 3 Sep 2013 09:09:56 -0700 (PDT), elaine...@yahoo.com wrote:

>Sliding pond. Yes I remember them in the parks.
>Never thought why they were called that.

This discusses the phrase without coming to any firm conclusion.
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19970403

....
The expression sliding pon(d) is almost exclusively connected to the
New York City area.
....
A somewhat more likely possiblity is that it comes from a Dutch
source. A Dutch dictionary in 1599 gives the term glijd-baene,
literally 'glide-road', for a children's slide (on ice, in this
case), showing that the term was used at least in European Dutch
around that time that Dutch had an influence on New York speech.
Sliding pond could thus represent a partial translation of the Dutch
term, with the glijd translated as sliding and the baene taken as
pond.

Other sources also mention the "sliding pon" version without a "d".

If the phrase did come from the Dutch "glijd-baene" it may be that
"baene" became "pon" and the "d" was added later.

--
Peter Duncanson, UK
(in alt.usage.english)

[Peter T. Daniels]

On Tuesday, September 3, 2013 12:09:56 PM UTC-4, elaine...@yahoo.com wrote:
> Sliding pond. Yes I remember them in the parks.
>
> Never thought why they were called that.

Yes, that's what they were called in mid 1950s Washington Heights.
No idea why. (They were simply slides.)

How did Elaine come upon a nearly 15-year-old thread?

[Bart Dinnissen]

This sounds plausible to me.

Baan (spounds like 'bahn') pronounces not very unlike 'pon'.

Today, the word glijbaan is still used here in Dutchland; in times of
heavy frost one empties a couple of buckets of water on the garden path
or playground and the next morning the children have a ball.

--
Bart Dinnissen

Oh, the sweet smell of success
Handle me with care
- The Travelling Wilburys

[Peter T. Daniels]

Native speakers of Dutch were born in NYC as late as the mid 1700s,
maybe slightly later in Brooklyn. How, though, would a term for an
ice-skating surface get transferred to a piece of playground equipment
that you slide down seated in the mid 1900s?

When was the playground slide introduced?

[Berna]

Glijbaan is also used for the playground equipment.(Just like in
English, in fact, where - so my dictionary tells me - 'slide' can refer
both to the horizontal surface and the playground chute.)

--
Berna

[J. J. Lodder]

A 'glijbaan' on ice is not a skating surface.
You slide on it on the soles of your shoes.
You make some speed, and jump on it,
to slide up to ten meter.
It looks like this
<http://www.depaviljoens.nl/page/898/nl>

A 'glijbaan' can also be made in the snow on the road.
The pressure and frictional heat turn the sow to ice,
and repeated sliding turns it into a polished surface.


Rare nowadays, global warming has killed it,
and snow rarely remains for longer than a day.

'Glijbaan' without further context
is usually the playground thing,

Jan

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

J. J. Lodder skrev:

> A 'glijbaan' on ice is not a skating surface.

From your description I can see that our (Danish) "glidebane" is
precisely the same thing.

--
Bertel, Denmark

[Peter T. Daniels]

The slide, where you climb up a ladder and slide down the ramp?

Winters were colder here in those days -- there are stories and even
photographs of the Hudson freezing completely over (and it's a mile wide,
and salt) as late as the mid 19th century.

Children's books about "growing up in old New York" don't mention a
sliding game (or we would have tried it!) in Dutch days. We hear a lot
about bowling.

What's concerning is the time break between the demise of the Dutch
language in NY (beginning in 1664) and the introduction of the slide.
There's no reason a Dutch term would have been applied to a later
invention.

Wiki claims it was invented in 1922 by an Englishman who died in 1885.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playground_slide

[Mike L]

That's true. Sliding on ice, as distinct from skating, has been a
popular amusement for a long time - and not only for children: Samuel
Johnson mentions going "sliding on the ice" as an Oxford undergrad,
and Sam Weller proves, unsurprisingly, to be very proficient at it in
_The Pickwick Papers_. My mind is almost telling me there's a
Shakespearean reference, too; but I really can't remember.

--
Mike.

[Robert Bannister]

That used to be a caning offence when I was at school in England. Didn't
stop us making slides, though.
--
Robert Bannister

[Robert Bannister]

All those comments about children falling off, but none about what
happens if you sit on a freezing cold or burning hot slide. I've only
experienced the latter, but it can inflict a nasty burn, but I can
imagine that with a really cold one, you could stick to it.

--
Robert Bannister

[Bertel Lund Hansen]

Robert Bannister skrev:

> All those comments about children falling off, but none about what
> happens if you sit on a freezing cold or burning hot slide. I've only
> experienced the latter, but it can inflict a nasty burn, but I can
> imagine that with a really cold one, you could stick to it.

You will if there is moisture. Having fingers freeze on to a
metallic surface is not uncommon, and people have been known to
try to lick the ice off a metallic surface. Most unfortunate ...

--
Bertel, Denmark

[CDB]

Do they really not know what will happen? In Canada, being challenged
to lick something metallic in winter is a well-know ordeal ceremony
among children (in my case it was the chain of a playground swing).

[Peter T. Daniels]

Garrison Keillor has at least one such story every winter in the News
from Lake Wobegon.

[Jerry Friedman]

Maybe the people in question are children.

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jerry Friedman]

No idea whether Shakespeare mentioned it (since sledded Polacks are
different), but there's always Skarp-Heddinn in /Njal's Saga/. You can
see me displaying my usual social adroitness on that subject here:

http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7125#42877

--
Jerry Friedman

[Peter Duncanson [BrE]]

<smile>

[John Briggs]

Actually, we can't be sure what exactly "sledded Polacks" were (I think
they were Poles in sleds, but what do I know?)
--
John Briggs

[R H Draney]

Jerry Friedman filted:

The matter, as far as I can remember, never arose during my childhood, which
took place in and around what is now Santa Clarita, California...(and we *did*
have snow once, on Christmas day)....r


--
Me? Sarcastic?
Yeah, right.

[J. J. Lodder]

Yes, that's a 'glijbaan' too.

> Winters were colder here in those days -- there are stories and even
> photographs of the Hudson freezing completely over (and it's a mile wide,
> and salt) as late as the mid 19th century.

Yes, the Rhine froze over too regularly.
Unfortunate, for in 1795 it gave the French armies
a possibility to invade Holland.
<http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/kloe003blau01_01/kloe003blau01ill029.gif>

> Children's books about "growing up in old New York" don't mention a
> sliding game (or we would have tried it!) in Dutch days. We hear a lot
> about bowling.

Given the fanaticism of the Dutch on ice games also then
they must have played their winter games.
Look up the painter Avercamp for an idea.

BTW, they brought you hockey on ice too,
called 'kolf', 'kolven'.
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Hendrick_Avercamp,_K
olfspelers_op_het_ijs,_Circa_1625.jpg>

The Brits of course didn't like playing on ice,
and used a lawn instead.

> What's concerning is the time break between the demise of the Dutch
> language in NY (beginning in 1664) and the introduction of the slide.
> There's no reason a Dutch term would have been applied to a later
> invention.

'Glijbaan' (on ice) is documented before 1600

> Wiki claims it was invented in 1922 by an Englishman who died in 1885.

All kiddies know it's a heavenly invention,

Jan

[CDB]

On 05/09/2013 10:21 AM, Jerry Friedman wrote:

Yes, but why didn't they know? Everybody knew the result where I lived;
it was like being told to spell "pig" backwards and say "funny", or hold
the tip of your tongue and say "My father works in a shipyard".

Why did the Little Moron cut his own legs off?

[Cheryl]

It might be the conviction that the result will be different this time.
I don't recall anyone falling for the 'lick a piece of metal' thing more
than once - although there was that tale of the person who got stuck to
the car door lock when trying to thaw it by breathing warm air on it -
but it wasn't that uncommon to have one's tongue briefly stuck to a
popsicle that was a bit colder than expected. We kept eating popsicles
(when we could get them) and, once in a while, freezing our tongues on them.

I remember someone - a South American, I think - expressing surprise
that we ate cold treats in midwinter. We couldn't understand what was
surprising about it.

--
Cheryl

[Jerry Friedman]

On 9/5/13 12:49 PM, John Briggs wrote:
> On 05/09/2013 17:57, Jerry Friedman wrote:
>> On Wednesday, September 4, 2013 2:14:28 PM UTC-6, Mike L wrote:

...

>>> Sliding on ice, as distinct from skating, has been a
>>> popular amusement for a long time - and not only for children: Samuel
>>> Johnson mentions going "sliding on the ice" as an Oxford undergrad,
>>> and Sam Weller proves, unsurprisingly, to be very proficient at it in
>>> _The Pickwick Papers_. My mind is almost telling me there's a
>>> Shakespearean reference, too; but I really can't remember.
>>
>> No idea whether Shakespeare mentioned it (since sledded Polacks are
>> different), but there's always Skarp-Heddinn in /Njal's Saga/. You can
>> see me displaying my usual social adroitness on that subject here:
>>
>> http://mudcat.org/thread.cfm?threadid=7125#42877
>
> Actually, we can't be sure what exactly "sledded Polacks" were (I think
> they were Poles in sleds, but what do I know?)

Hm, I'd taken that for granted. What else could they have been?

--
Jerry Friedman

--
Jerry Friedman

[Jeffrey Turner]

On 9/6/2013 8:38 AM, Cheryl wrote:

>
> I remember someone - a South American, I think - expressing surprise
> that we ate cold treats in midwinter. We couldn't understand what was
> surprising about it.

New Englanders eat more ice cream than people in other regions.

--Jeff

[Jerry Friedman]

Ah, I misunderstood--I thought your ordeal was the result of licking the
chain, not just being challenged to lick it. But there's always
somebody who doesn't know something. (For each thing, there's at least
one person who doesn't know it.)

--
Jerry Friedman

[Skitt]

The front door to our apartment house in Riga had a hinged brass bar for
unlatching it. Winters get mighty chilly in Riga. Sometimes the
temperature drops below -30°C. I never tried to lick that bar.

See http://home.comcast.net/~skitt99/Rigahouse3.png

--
Skitt (SF Bay Area)
http://home.comcast.net/~skitt99/main.html

[CDB]

You had to lick or lose face (I lost about a cm^2 of tongue instead).
The dilemma was what made it an ordeal. The other stuff was only
exemplary of the keen intellect that informed our society.

I suppose the difference is that you could always switch personal
pronouns but it wasn't practical to switch tongues.

[John Briggs]

Poleaxes, for a start. Which has a knock-on effect on "sledded"...
--
John Briggs

[Iain Archer]

John Briggs wrote on Sun, 8 Sep 2013 at 16:49:17 GMT

You don't normally put on armour and smite a poleaxe.

"Such was the very armour he had on
When he th' ambitious Norway combated.
So frown'd he once when, in an angry parle,
He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice.
'Tis strange."

There is some icy sliding in Shakespeare, btw.

"Farewell, my lord: I as your lover speak;
The fool slides o'er the ice that you should break."
-- Troilius & Cressida, 3,3,2094

Not absolutely sure that it's a recreational reference, but I suspect
more likely than not.
--
Iain Archer

[John Briggs]

Yes, he lost his temper during fraught negotiations and struck the ice
with a steeled pole-axe. Look, it's not *my* conjecture - but it has
been adopted by e.g. Jonathan Bate. Alexander Pope was the first to
suggest "poleaxe".

(Wilder suggestions include "slay-dead pole-axe".)
--
John Briggs

[Iain Archer]

John Briggs wrote on Mon, 9 Sep 2013 at 00:17:31 GMT

You mean Bate's pedagogical example in his Introduction to the RSC
edition?

"Did old Hamlet smite a leaded or a steeled poleaxe on the ice or did he
smite the Polack from a sledge? So much depends on whether you favour
Quarto or Folio?"

Well, if he can attach the same interpretation to all the other related
instances in the play, he might just have the beginning of an argument.
Otherwise, otherwise.
http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/search/search-results.php?link=con&s
earchtype=regexp&works[]=hamlet&keyword1=pola.
--
Iain Archer

[John Briggs]

Well, "Polack" does actually make sense in those cases, whereas here
he's having trouble with Norway: "Such was the very armour he had on

When he th' ambitious Norway combated. So frown'd he once when, in an

angry parle, He smote the sledded Polacks on the ice." It's also the
only instance of "Polacks" as the plural noun.
--
John Briggs

[pritsy]

"Peter T. Daniels" <gram...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:f0c34fa6-b93b-47e1...@googlegroups.com...
> On Tuesday, September 3, 2013 12:09:56 PM UTC-4, elaine...@yahoo.com

> wrote:

>> Sliding pond. Yes I remember them in the parks.
>> Never thought why they were called that.

> Yes, that's what they were called in mid 1950s Washington Heights.
> No idea why. (They were simply slides.)

I was born in Manhattan in 1938, and lived in Manhattan, just south of
Washington Heights, my entire childhood,

I never heard the expressions sliding pond or sliding pon in my life. A
slide only called a slide

However, I managed to find the following:

1871 "On the opposite side was Postmaster Bailey's residence, a narrow
two-story house, with a single dormer window, and a cellar in the
basement, protected from observation by doors which, from their
propitious angle, formed the 'summer sliding-pond' of young New
York." -Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol .43, Issue 257, Octgober,
page 649; also in History of New York City from the Discovery to the
Present by William L. Stone, page23

The neighborhood I grew up in was relatively new (my once elegant
apartment building was constructed in 1898). The neighborhood no longer
had the types of cellar doors of half a century before, and was
populated mostly by early 20the century immigrants, of incredibly
diverse nationalities. Apparently all memory of the old sloped cellar
doors was long gone.

[Mike L]

There's no need for the two sentences to refer to a single incident or
a single campaign. His appearance is being described, though with
inferences as to his warrior character.

--
Mike.

[John Briggs]

And "Polacks" as the plural noun?
--
John Briggs

[Skitt]

Yes. The singular is Polak in Polish, though, and the plural is Polacy.
Then again, we are not talking about Polish.

[Mike L]

And "once" surely indicates a separate incident.

--
Mike.

[John Briggs]

The other instances say "the Polack".
--
John Briggs

[John Briggs]

With or without armour?

So what do you think "So frown'd he once when, in an angry parle, He
smote the sledded Polacks on the ice." actually *means*?
--
John Briggs

[Mike L]

On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 00:04:58 +0100, John Briggs

Sounds like an occasion on which armour would have been worn. If
you're wondering about the visibility of the frown behind a visor,
well, a helmet doesn't always have a visor, and in any case this is a
story, not a history.

>
>So what do you think "So frown'd he once when, in an angry parle, He
>smote the sledded Polacks on the ice." actually *means*?

Something like "That's his characteristic frown, as when one day in a
hostile encounter on the ice he 'hammered' the Poles who had arrived
on sleds."

Frowning was a standard literary attribute of tough warriors. The
parle is more debatable, but I see from Harold Jackson's Arden edn
that it needn't have been restricted to literal negotiating parleys:
elsewhere Shakespeare himself has "speak" as a euphemism or
understatement for fighting. Or perhaps this was a parley which
degenerated into violence.

--
Mike.

[CDB]

On 12/09/2013 5:13 PM, Mike L wrote:
> On Thu, 12 Sep 2013 00:04:58 +0100, John Briggs
> <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>
>> On 11/09/2013 23:48, Mike L wrote:
>>> On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 22:24:20 +0100, Mike L <n...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 01:33:17 +0100, John Briggs
>>>> <john.b...@ntlworld.com> wrote:

["poleaxe" is more "appropriate", though]

It would explain why his frown was visible.

[brianfro...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, nancy g. wrote:
> This isn't exactly my question -- what with the holidays and all,
> I've been so busy that I've employed a ghost writer to do my newsgroup
> posting for me.
>
> (OK, OK, so I'll explain that I have a houseguest who's finding it
> easier to use my ID than to set up my newsreader to make it appear
> that he's himself.)
>
> Anyway, the question really is from *both* of us. "Sliding ponds"??
>
> Here's the question, written by a committee of two posting from
> my PC:
>
> -----
>
> My SO, Jim Dear, posed an etymlogy question of a phrase I've *never* heard
> before he brought it up. Now, I'm noticing the phrase in New Jersey news
> stories about playground accidents and the like. Here's the question
> Jim Dear asks:
> ==========
> The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
> ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
> in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
> which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
> on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"
> ==========
>
> Nancy "slide down my cellar door" G.

We called it a "sliding pond" much to the confusion of our fellow Missouri playmates. This thread sheds some light as my Parents grew up in Long Island. Thank You so much! For years we pondered when and where we came to call it thus.

[John Varela]

I lived in South Jersey at a time when we had children in grade
school and never heard that expression. I have heard "sliding
board", however. I don't recall where or when.

--
John Varela

[retr...@gmail.com]

[retr...@gmail.com]

Sliding Pond is a Brooklyn term --It bled across to North Jersey. I lived in South Orange and it was sliding pond. In South Jersey, they call it a "sliding board" because that's what it called in Philly; South Jersey is in Philly's orbit.--JEFF WEISS

[Peter Moylan]

> Sliding Pond is a Brooklyn term --It bled across to North Jersey. I
> lived in South Orange and it was sliding pond. In South Jersey, they
> call it a "sliding board" because that's what it called in Philly;
> South Jersey is in Philly's orbit.--JEFF WEISS

Is that the answer now, or in 1998 when the question was asked?
Languages can change in 20 years.

I regret to say that I can't remember Nancy G., but it seems unlikely
that the answer will ever reach her.

--
Peter Moylan http://www.pmoylan.org
Newcastle, NSW, Australia

[HVS]

On 12 Jul 2018, Peter Moylan wrote

> On 12/07/18 16:58, retr...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Tuesday, April 4, 2017 at 8:28:37 PM UTC-4, John Varela wrote:
>>> On Mon, 3 Apr 2017 17:10:34 UTC, brianfro...@gmail.com
>>> wrote:
>>>> On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 12:00:00 AM UTC-8, nancy g.
>>>> wrote:

-snip-

Or even earlier than that, I suspect.

It's feasible that Nancy G. managed to post the original at *precisely*
12:00:00 AM on 29/12/1998, but it seems more likely to me that that's a
base-line time and date for an archive of postings which pre-date that
particular time-stamp.

--
Cheers, Harvey
CanEng (30yrs) and BrEng (34yrs), indiscriminately mixed

[Ken Blake]

Not just New Jersey. I spent the first few years of my life in the
Bronx, and it was always a called a "sliding pond" there.


I never knew why it was called that, but googling it, I found
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/sliding_pond and
http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=3613

[Jenny Telia]

On 12/07/2018 08:51, retr...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, nancy g. wrote:
>> This isn't exactly my question -- what with the holidays and all,
>> I've been so busy that I've employed a ghost writer to do my newsgroup
>> posting for me.
>>

Given that 'nancy g.' first raised the issue in Dec 1998, I hope your
'ghost writer' reference is not literally the case by now. May she rest
in peace, if that be true.

[Mark Brader]

Peter Moylan:

>> Is that the answer now, or in 1998 when the question was asked?

Harvey Van Sickle:

> Or even earlier than that, I suspect.
>
> It's feasible that Nancy G. managed to post the original at *precisely*
> 12:00:00 AM on 29/12/1998, but it seems more likely to me that that's a
> base-line time and date for an archive of postings which pre-date that
> particular time-stamp.

I think the explanation is simpler. "Show original" in Google
Groups shows that the article has a DejaNews article number:
"X-Deja-AN: 426941819". So it would have been archived with its
headers intact.

But it also shows "Date: 1998/12/29". That's not actually a valid
format of Date line, but presumably it is what the article was posted
with. So the date in 1998 is known (and is confirmed by the Nancy's
reference to "the holidays"), but the time of day is not.

For example, another posting of Nancy's from that era, in the thread
"the parents' room vs the parents room", has "Date: 1999/10/06".
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "As long as that blue light is on, the
m...@vex.net computer is safe." -- Hot Millions

My text in this article is in the public domain.

[wrangl...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, nancy g. wrote:
> This isn't exactly my question -- what with the holidays and all,
> I've been so busy that I've employed a ghost writer to do my newsgroup
> posting for me.
>

> (OK, OK, so I'll explain that I have a houseguest who's finding it
> easier to use my ID than to set up my newsreader to make it appear
> that he's himself.)
>
> Anyway, the question really is from *both* of us. "Sliding ponds"??
>
> Here's the question, written by a committee of two posting from
> my PC:
>
> -----
>
> My SO, Jim Dear, posed an etymlogy question of a phrase I've *never* heard
> before he brought it up. Now, I'm noticing the phrase in New Jersey news
> stories about playground accidents and the like. Here's the question
> Jim Dear asks:
> ==========
> The playground apparatus consisting of a ladder and an inclined metal
> ramp is called a "slide" in most of the US (as far as I've heard) except
> in New Jersey. New Jerseyians refer to this contraption as a "sliding pond,"
> which includes the dirt "pitch" upon which the slide is erected. Any clues
> on the origin of the name, and why a "pond?"

> ==========

>
> Nancy "slide down my cellar door" G.

I called it a sliding pond, and I grew up in Ramsey, NJ. My siblings never called it that, though. I must have learned it from my playmates.

[Peter Moylan]

On 29/08/18 09:33, wrangl...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, nancy g. wrote:

Today seems to be the day for a walk down memory lane.

Back in those days, though, the clueless newbies used to turn up in
September. According to my calendar, it's not September yet.

Something to do with global warming, no doubt.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

On 2018-08-29 05:57:29 +0000, Peter Moylan said:

> On 29/08/18 09:33, wrangl...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Tuesday, December 29, 1998 at 3:00:00 AM UTC-5, nancy g. wrote:
>
> Today seems to be the day for a walk down memory lane.
>
> Back in those days, though, the clueless newbies used to turn up in
> September. According to my calendar, it's not September yet.

No, but la rentrée has hit us with a bang before the end of August (as
it usually does). I hate la rentrée: no more empty roads or supermarket
car parks; students back; heads of institutes back. Next week our
grandchildren (now 3) start l'école maternelle.

>
> Something to do with global warming, no doubt.


--

athel