Origins
The term skid road dates back to the 17th century, when it referred to a log road, used to skid or drag logs through woods and bog. The term was in common usage in the mid-19th century and came to refer not just to the corduroy roads themselves, but to logging camps and mills all along the Pacific Coast. The source of the term as an urban-landscape reference is heavily debated, and is generally identified as originating in either Vancouver or Seattle.
One job on the skid road was lubricating it to make the logs slide more easily. The person with that job was called the "grease monkey", predating, and probably giving rise to the modern usage of grease monkey as a mechanic.
The term Felony Flats is a common pejorative nickname for neighborhoods in various American cities, usually referring to a "bad" part of town. The name comes from areas where an unusually high number of formerly convicted felons might reside. However sometimes the nickname sticks to neighborhoods where the actual statistics might not be true.
Cities with neighborhoods nicknamed Felony Flats include Portland, Oregon; Spokane, Washington; Aberdeen, Washington; and north of Wasilla, Alaska among others.
Read more about this topic: Skid Row
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“The settlement of America had its origins in the unsettlement of Europe. America came into existence when the European was already so distant from the ancient ideas and ways of his birthplace that the whole span of the Atlantic did not widen the gulf.”
—Lewis Mumford (1895–1990)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)