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Mayday, mayday! — 5 Comments

  1. > Why the Woolworth Building? Opened in 1913, it was a cool fifty-seven stories high, the tallest building in the world until 1930.

    A true statement, but it should be noted that it was still shorter than the Eiffel Tower, which, at 986 feet, held the record for tallest structure until eclipsed by the Chrysler Building.

    A subtle difference but a difference worth noting.

    It’s also worth noting that Woolworth paid for the building IN CASH. One wonders what the man would think of today’s credit-crazy society…?

    > (from the wiki) venez m’aider, meaning “come (and) help me”

    Actually, it makes far, far more sense when you realize the casual form (because, let’s face it, are you really going to be screaming in terror while worrying about grammatical form?) of the French for “Help Me!” is “M’aidez!”, which in anglo syllables sounds almost exactly like “Mayday!”.

  2. I’m just guessing here, but maybe the distress call had its origin in World War I, when American soldiers and airmen went to fight in France.

  3. > I’m just guessing here, but maybe the distress call had its origin in World War I, when American soldiers and airmen went to fight in France.

    Sorry, I sort of assumed this was well-known — yes, that’s when it entered the American common vernacular.

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