Easy Street, maybe?

July 26, 2009 10:53 PM

What does the insult "There are street named after her" mean?

A friend of mine was complaining to me about a mutual friend of ours, doing some things she considered to be selfish and greedy. She ended her rant by saying, "There are streets named after her!!" I didn't ask her what it meant at the time, it would be strange to do so now, but I cannot get this out of my head. What the heck does it mean?

posted by srrh to society & culture (9 comments total)

ONE WAY

It has nothing to do with being a girl.
posted by Paleoindian at 10:56 PM on July 26 [3 favorites]

Mmm, implications that she is selfish? Perhaps the idea is that she thinks she's very important, enough that she deserves a street. Maybe she likes the sound of her name so much she's willing to buy a street just to name it after herself?
posted by wild like kudzu at 1:31 AM on July 27

As Paleoindian said, the phrase refers to "one way" streets - implying that she takes but doesn't give.
posted by platinum at 1:52 AM on July 27

You're not in Providence, RI, are you?
posted by Xalf at 7:22 AM on July 27

My husband's family says this all the time. And I always point out that the street isn't named "One Way". "One Way" is a regulatory traffic sign. So the saying should be, "There are regulatory traffic signs named after her".

Doesn't have quite the same flow though, does it.....
posted by iconomy at 7:38 AM on July 27 [2 favorites]

oh WOW...i always thought it meant something MUCH different, as in a salacious occupation that might take place on certain dark streets.

i never used the phrase tho. i just thought it was a witty way of calling someone a slut or other such word.
posted by sio42 at 8:02 AM on July 27

Why is it "strange to do so now?" Why can't you approach your friend and say, "Hey the other day... what exactly did you mean?"

Also, I immediately through of prostitution, but then I would think that...
posted by wfrgms at 8:10 AM on July 27

Or, uh, "Easy Street," maybe?
posted by wenestvedt at 12:00 PM on July 27

Why is it "strange to do so now?" Why can't you approach your friend and say, "Hey the other day... what exactly did you mean?"

Out of fear of looking and sounding really stupid? I'd never heard the expression either, and that's certainly how I'd feel if I asked someone about it after the fact.

Plus, it sorta comes off as seeming like they were more concerned about what the expression meant, rather than the rant that came before and after it. Sorta like nitpicking grammar during a heated argument.

Oddly enough, Google doesn't seem to be much help, as the results for "There are streets named after him" and "her" just consist of stuff about actual streets named after actual people.

It's such a vague phrase. Variations of "Love/friendship isn't a one-way street" seem to make a lot more sense.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 12:34 AM on July 28