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deckardcanineA slang phrase, tho American and certainly far from new,
Is the name of a post-punk British band: It’s 23 Skidoo.
I’m not sure who still uses the phrase for having to exit fast,
But the early 1900s had it become a big part of our past.
At first it was two words separately, with meanings much alike.
In 1906, many ads would give the joint expression a spike.
The “skidoo” part’s pretty simple as a variant of “skedaddle,”
But where’d the “23” come from? Explanations leave me addled.
One theory notes the Flatiron Building on New York’s 23rd Street.
Its shape yields swirling winds, which might make exits extra fleet.
The trouble is that the building was finished only in 1902,
Three years too late for “23” and one too late for “skidoo”
(Altho What Happened on Twenty-third Street, a short from 1901,
Depicts a Seven Year Itch-style upskirt draft for racy fun).
In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, a man to be beheaded
Is called by his number, 23—how bland for a fate so dreaded!
A jockey claimed that a track was only 22 horses wide.
A 23rd horse would start behind, with a need for speed implied.
It might be a telegraph shorthand code to mean “Away with you,”
But Western Union has it for “All stations copy”; that won’t do.
Perhaps Skidoo, California, stood some 23 miles away
From a water source on Telescope Peak; the town is gone today.
Another Death Valley town, perhaps, had 23 saloons.
A man might visit them all to have the greatest time in moons.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of the theories behind the term.
Just know there are a lot of them, and none are yet confirmed.
Is the name of a post-punk British band: It’s 23 Skidoo.
I’m not sure who still uses the phrase for having to exit fast,
But the early 1900s had it become a big part of our past.
At first it was two words separately, with meanings much alike.
In 1906, many ads would give the joint expression a spike.
The “skidoo” part’s pretty simple as a variant of “skedaddle,”
But where’d the “23” come from? Explanations leave me addled.
One theory notes the Flatiron Building on New York’s 23rd Street.
Its shape yields swirling winds, which might make exits extra fleet.
The trouble is that the building was finished only in 1902,
Three years too late for “23” and one too late for “skidoo”
(Altho What Happened on Twenty-third Street, a short from 1901,
Depicts a Seven Year Itch-style upskirt draft for racy fun).
In Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, a man to be beheaded
Is called by his number, 23—how bland for a fate so dreaded!
A jockey claimed that a track was only 22 horses wide.
A 23rd horse would start behind, with a need for speed implied.
It might be a telegraph shorthand code to mean “Away with you,”
But Western Union has it for “All stations copy”; that won’t do.
Perhaps Skidoo, California, stood some 23 miles away
From a water source on Telescope Peak; the town is gone today.
Another Death Valley town, perhaps, had 23 saloons.
A man might visit them all to have the greatest time in moons.
This isn’t an exhaustive list of the theories behind the term.
Just know there are a lot of them, and none are yet confirmed.