It's on the tip of my tongue....

October 3, 2005 7:09 AM

What is the word for the criminal act of throwing crap out of a window?

The word I'm looking for ends in a "-y", maybe "-ny." The word refers to tossing refuse, waste, or anything, really, out of a window onto to the street or into a public space.

It is not "defenestration."

I have been trying to recall this word for years. I first heard it when visiting NYC. Someone threw a penny out of a 5th floor window and someone said, "Dont' do that, it's ____-ny."

posted by mds35 to writing & language (22 comments total)

Littering?
posted by Plutor at 7:22 AM on October 3, 2005

Nope.
posted by mds35 at 7:24 AM on October 3, 2005

Temerity
posted by planetkyoto at 8:09 AM on October 3, 2005

Seems to me, mds35, that the place to look for this word would be in the New York City by-laws. If this specific act is illegal, it ought to be mentioned somewhere in there. I can't find them online myself, at least not in the time I can spare from my work today.
posted by orange swan at 8:11 AM on October 3, 2005

Could you have heard "Felony"?
posted by jchgf at 8:19 AM on October 3, 2005

"Felony" matches the ending, but that's not the word. It was more like "simony" or "penury."

I moved to NYC after hearing the word and no one I have met here in the last 11 years seems to know what I'm talking about. Perhaps it's an old word, no longer in popular usage, that described emptying bedpans into the streets before the city had plumbing?

I've checked the laws and will check again, but if anyone thinks of anything, feel free to chime in.
posted by mds35 at 8:35 AM on October 3, 2005

maybe ask a police officer?
posted by feloniousmonk at 8:36 AM on October 3, 2005

Once upon a time there was a phrase for throwing the contents of a slop jar out the window, but it was used as a warning call rather than a descriptive term: "Regardez l'eau" (pronounced "gardy-loo") — watch out for the water.

There's a possibility too that the person who used this term had no idea what she or he was talking about.
posted by orange swan at 8:42 AM on October 3, 2005

orange swan, I am familiar with "gardy loo" but that was not the term I'm looking for. Your second suggestion is a distinct possibility, but the term they used had the smack of an actual word.
posted by mds35 at 9:05 AM on October 3, 2005

Puniary?
posted by acoutu at 9:39 AM on October 3, 2005

I remember signs like this in NYC in the 70's:
"Littering is filthy and selfish so don't do it!"
"Selfishandfilthy"?
posted by pointilist at 9:46 AM on October 3, 2005

precipitate?
posted by swift at 10:10 AM on October 3, 2005

If what you tossed out the window hit someone, in most jurisdictions it would be an act of battery
posted by paulsc at 10:15 AM on October 3, 2005

"Don't do that, it's my 1943 penny"?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:56 AM on October 3, 2005

Actually at that height it would be a "fell-ony."


Sorry.
posted by starman at 12:12 PM on October 3, 2005

Oh well.
posted by mds35 at 1:49 PM on October 3, 2005

This is not what you want, but the NYC police call it "airmail" when things are thrown out the window at them.
posted by Mo Nickels at 5:21 PM on October 3, 2005

Larceny?
posted by attercoppe at 8:19 PM on October 3, 2005

How 'bout:
- exfenestrate? (accent on 2nd syllable, short a)
- litterbuggery? (Focus on Family will scream, though)
- george-n-jane? (you know, the Jettisons)
posted by rob511 at 11:51 PM on October 3, 2005

Forget I asked.
posted by mds35 at 9:24 AM on October 6, 2005

mo'nickels, that's not the answer, but it's a neat piece of trivia, so you get the best answer prize.

Thanks, everyone. I didn't get my answer, but there were some good chuckles here.
posted by mds35 at 7:44 AM on October 13, 2005

Defenestration
posted by gregschoen at 2:09 PM on August 15, 2006