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Twenty three skidoo
An american orginated Idiom (1920's) that means 'let's get out of here.
The following was sent in from a site visitor:
The story behind it's meaning originates from New York City. The "twenty-three" refers to 23rd street in Manhattan where Broadway crosses over it.
North of Houston Street, New York takes on a grid pattern of roadways. Street travel east west and avenues travel north and south. However, Broadway travels on an angle from the lower east side to the upper west side. At each major intersection where Broadway crosses a street and an avenue, Manhattan has a "square" (ie - Herald Square - Where Macy's is; Madison Square where the original Madison Square Garden once stood; and the famous Times Square.)
Well, at 23rd street and Broadway there is a famous New York Building. It is known as the FLAT IRON building and was built . It's bird's eye view architecture is triangular with the apex resting at the corner of 23rd street and Broadway. On light breezy days, the wind is strangely strong at this point due to the apex of the Flat Iron building. Back in the 20's, as women walked down 23rd street toward the flat iron building from either direction, they would walk into an unexpected gust of wind that would cause their skirts and dresses to fly upwards. The gust of wind would cause the woman to hold down their skirts and dresses while attempting to move more quickly from their original pace. So the term was coined by the men who were standing on the other side of the street watching the women SKIDOO down 23rd street.
I know this because I used to work in the flat iron building and to this day, men still stand across the street watching the women SKIDOO down 23rd street.
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