Chrysti The Wordsmith: City Slicker - 1

Greetings and welcome to Christie the wordsmith. After Mr. Riley's creative writing students at Cody Senior High in Wyoming got curious about the moniker city slicker their teacher asked me if I knew its origin. Well I did not but I knew where to turn for direction. The August Oxford English Dictionary which offers this definition of the term city slicker a smartly dressed and sophisticated city dweller. The dictionaries researchers found an early citation of the term in a Nov. 19 24 edition of Cosmopolitan magazine. But there was no account of its history and this was disappointing because etymology searches is what the Oxford English Dictionary does so well. However the OED is compiled and edited by British English speakers. And since city slicker was coined in this country I decided to investigate the term in an American reference. The Dictionary of American Slang published in 1060 was a good choice according to this volume. A city slicker is a city dweller

specifically a shrewd worldly stylishly dressed one regarded by rural people as a swindler almost always a disparaging use by rural people. I liked the detailed definition in the Dictionary of American slang but I wanted to know more about slicker. What's the story behind that slang term. The dictionary didn't disappoint. It went on to say see slicker. And so I did. Next time the oily side of city slicker I'm Christie the wordsmith Christie the wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.