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Flea market

Posted by Barney on January 14, 2001

In Reply to: Flea market posted by ESC on January 13, 2001

: : Where did the name Flea market originate?

: FLEA MARKET - "These bargain markets have nothing to do with fleas. 'Flea market' has been an American expression as far back as Dutch colonial days when there was a very real Vallie (Valley) Market at the valley, or foot, of Maiden Lane in Downtown Manhattan. The Vallie Market came to be abbreviated to 'Vlie Market' and this was soon being pronounced 'Flea Market.'" From Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

Some hold that it originated from the French "Le Marche aux Puces" - a district in Paris of some antiquity.

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