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Only in New York
These expressions originated in New York. Some of them stayed while some spread across the country. Burn the British—A toasted English muffin, from Old New York diner and luncheonette talk. Doesn't know his ass from his elbow—A person completely ignorant of something. Don't get your bowels in an uproar—Don't get excited; calm down; cool it. Don't jerk my chain—Don't harass or bother me. Everything worthwhile doing is either immoral, illegal or fattening—Attributed to New York author Alexander Woolcott. I say it's spinach and I say the hell with it—Caption written by E.B. White to a 1928 cartoon in the New Yorker showing a mother offering broccoli to her little daughter. It doesn't go on all fours—Something isn't quite right. It shouldn't happen to a dog—A common saying lamenting a person's extremely bad luck. Keep your nose out of the gutter—Don't drink so much that you get drunk. Life is just one damned thing after another—Coined by New York Sun reporter Frank Ward O'Malley. Nice guys finish last—Brooklyn Dodger manager Leo Durocher in 1940 commenting on manager of opposing team: "He's such a nice guy and they'll finish last for him." One foot on a banana peel and the other in the grave—Very old or very ill; slipping away fast. Revenge is a dish best served cold—Don Vito Corleone in Godfather. (1969) Take the stone out of one's shoe—In mobspeak, someone or something who irritates you, from Mario Puzo, The Last Don. Warm piece of the sidewalk—Decent living; "Even a dog gets a warm piece of the sidewalk," from the movie Donnie Brasco. (1977) Yada, yada, yada—Blah, blah blah, from the TV show Seinfeld.
Source: Robert Hendrickson, New Yawk Tawk: A Dictionary of New York City Expressions
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