Annie Oakley

Annie Oakley
   An Annie Oakley is a complimentary ticket to a theater. The ticket has holes punched in it to prevent its exchange for cash at the box office. This oddity came about in an unusual way.
   Annie Oakley (1860-1926), born in Darke County, Ohio, was the stage name for Phoebe Anne Oakley Mozee. Annie was probably the , greatest female sharpshooter ever. She got her professional start when, at the urging of friends, she entered a shooting match in Cincinnati pitting Frank E. Butler, a vaudeville marksman, against all comers. Butler gave no thought to this fifteen-year-old girl who dared compete with him. But upon seeing Annie's first shot, he paid strict attention. ,She won the contest, and a husband to boot, for Butler and Annie fell in love and were married. They then began a vaudeville tour as a trickshooting team.
   The Butlers joined Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show in 1885, but it was Annie who became the star attraction. She remained as the rifle sharpshooter for forty years. She thrilled audiences with her expert marksmanship and dazzled them with her trick shooting. In one of her outstanding feats, she would flip a playing card into the air, usually a five of hearts, and shoot the pips out of it.
   But what, you might ask, has that to do with a free ticket? Circus performers were reminded of their meal tickets by the riddled playing cards, because their meal tickets were punched every time they bought a meal. Hence they came to call their tickets "Annie Oakleys." The idea of a punched card caught on, so that today a complimentary ticket to a show, a meal, or a pass on a railway has Annie Oakley holes. Annie Oakley needed no encomiums during her forty years with the Wild West Show, but she was given one, nevertheless, by Sitting Bull, who labeled her "Little Sure Shot." In more recent times Ethel Merman, the star of Annie Get Your Gun, popularized Annie Oakley once again, making her for today's generation a "big shot."

Dictionary of eponyms. . 2013.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Annie Oakley — um 1899 Annie Oakley (* 13. August 1860 in der Nähe von Willowdell[1], nach anderen Angaben bei North Star[2], Darke County, Ohio; † 3. November 1926 in …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Annie Oakley — Saltar a navegación, búsqueda Cartel anunciando a Annie Oakley. Phoebe Anne Oakley Moses (Darke County, Ohio, 13 de agosto de 1860 – Greenville, Ohio, 3 de noviembre de …   Wikipedia Español

  • Annie Oakley — [n] complimentary ticket Chinese ducket*, free admission, freebie*, free pass, free seats, free ticket; concepts 271,685 …   New thesaurus

  • Annie Oakley — ☆ Annie Oakley [an΄ē ōk′lē ] n. [after woman rifle expert (1860 1926): ? because her small targets resembled punched tickets] Slang a free ticket; pass …   English World dictionary

  • Annie Oakley — For other uses, see Annie Oakley (disambiguation). Annie Oakley Born Phoebe Ann Mosey August 13, 1860(1860 08 13) Greenville, Ohio, United States …   Wikipedia

  • Annie Oakley — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Annie et Oakley. Annie Oakley sur une affiche du Buffalo Bill s Wild West show Annie Oakley ( …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Annie Oakley — noun (plural Annie Oakleys) Etymology: Annie Oakley died 1926 American markswoman; from the resemblance of a punched pass to a playing card with bullet holes through the spots Date: circa 1910 a free ticket …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Annie Oakley — /ohk lee/ a free ticket, as to a theater; pass. [allegedly so called because such tickets, punched to prevent resale, resembled the playing cards used as targets by Annie OAKLEY] * * * …   Universalium

  • Annie Oakley — An′nie Oak′ley [[t]ˈæn i ˈoʊk li[/t]] n. sbz a free ticket, as to a theater; pass • Etymology: 1920–25, amer.; allegedly because such tickets, punched to prevent resale, resembled the playing cards used as targets by Annie Oakley …   From formal English to slang

  • Annie Oakley (TV series) — Annie Oakley is a Western television series which fictionalized the life of famous sharpshooter Annie Oakley. It ran from January 1954 to February 1957 in syndication. ABC showed reruns on Saturday and Sunday daytime from 1959 1960 and from 1964… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”