Gotta know.......

[Finlander]

Can someone please tell me where Gord's "Biscuit City" is located. Is this an actual name of a city or some symbolic "valhalla"?

[johnfowles]

Originally Posted by Finlander

Can someone please tell me where Gord's "Biscuit City" is located. Is this an actual name of a city or some symbolic "valhalla"?

A truly excellent question Finlander and one for which a litle bit of searching here would pay dividends viz:-

1. http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...t=biscuit+city
   and better still
2. http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showthread...t=biscuit+city

both if which threads are highly pertinent and include revealing replies to your question
in particular see:-
http://www.corfid.com/vbb/showpost.p...78&postcount=2

in which it was revealed that Bruna a.k.a silverheels of this parish and the parish of Shirley in Surrey in the UK whilst driving up Interstate I95 in the State of Rhode Island area spotted a road that is presumably named after this mythical metropolis or State of Mind :-

To be fair it is easier for those of us who have been here a long time expecially myself since I cropped Bru's original picture then rotated the cropped version a tad then and stored it on my own website

[johnfowles]

Furthermore a far from subtle google unearthed a great mention of Biscuit City Road
http://www.newenglandancestors.org/r...ode_island.asp
which opens
"After years of looking you have finally found your Rhode Island link living in a place called Biscuit City! You have never heard of Biscuit City and you are unsuccessful finding any information on the place. Congratulations, you have just discovered one of the reasons genealogical research in Rhode Island is so challenging"
Another site for launching hand-carried boats such as canoes or kayaks
(are you paying attention canooists Yuri and Al Watchman
also tells you how to get to this road and refers to
Biscuit City Landing
which "is the first access point on the Pawcatuck River below Worden Pond and is thus often used as a take-out for trips starting on either Worden Pond or the Chipuxet River."
　
Also there seem to be a few houses for sale on Biscuit City Road itself
one is described on
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/18...44589273_zpid/
and is at:
180 Biscuit City Rd Kingston, RI 02881
　
for which Bing maps helpfully provides a birds eye view

[jj]

i assume it's symbolic, representing an ideal or utopian situation

the expression was used plenty by relatives when and where i grew up... 'take the biscuit' was another slang phrase that thrown around...same with 'put the biscuit in the basket' ...i love the word but always thought it should be spelled bisket ...yeah, it's a dumb language with many odd phrases... some standing the test of time

[Finlander]

Many Thanks for all those who repied......Being new to this forum I didn't have a chance to to search the archives. At least now I know it's not "Midland Ontario". I've been to Midland and it doesn't quite hold up to the BC standards. I always considered it a "State of Mind".

[timetraveler]

As best as I can figure, from the discrption that's in the song, it sounds like it's somewhere in Florida.

[charlene]

but Florida is in a foreign land..(to us Canucks that is)

I'd like to be in Biscuit City
With my banjo in my hand
I don't need no long vacation
In some foreign land

could be the beaches on Lake Simcoe and Couchiching where Oirllia is that he's speaking of...at home where he wants to be? Perhaps even Toronto..some pretty nice beaches on the islands across the Toronto Harbour...he just told me he loves the city in the summer..

[jj]

Originally Posted by Finlander

I always considered it a "State of Mind".

again, I believe you are correct...it seems obvious from a look back at the lyrics...does no one else use the slang expression? maybe it's an Ontario thing

http://books.google.com/books?id=5Gp...page&q&f=false

[charlene]

yep - it's a 'zen' thing..
lol

[jj]

ahh, so concisely stated, char

i learned many new expressions based on the 'biscuit' word by browsing that slang link...some quite humourous

btw, the most common use of the expression that I recall was when father and i would be doing a project or chore and as we approached completion he would say something like, "now if we can just get this last section to hold we'll be in Biscuit City"

the phrase has already been passed onto junior and applied a few times...i love when expressions are filtered down through the generations

[charlene]

I'd only ever heard 'that takes the biscuit'... lots of great old sayings I've passed on too.
My 'heavy' grandmother used to say of her jiggly parts: 'must be jelly cuz jam don't shake like that'..
and 'stop crying or i'll give you something to cry about'...and my fave: 'what goes around, comes around'...
I have my own - "people are strange', which can vary to: 'people are weird' and 'people are nuts.'
Pretty much covers it all.
oh yeah - don't forget "Bob's your uncle" which seems to fall along the same line as your example of using Biscuit City.
"if we get this section to hold then Bob's your uncle!"