Half Day Road And The Origins Of A Semantic Slip-up

Curious City

WBEZ Chicago

Society & Culture, Education, Public, Chicago, Arts, City, Radio, Curious, Investigation

4.8 • 642 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2019

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A half day from ... what? Why this suburban myth is not even half true, and why the same mistake was made again 600 miles away.

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's Curious City, where we take your questions about Chicago and the region.
0:06.2	And investigate.
0:07.4	Report.
0:08.0	Explore.
0:08.9	From WBEZ.
0:14.8	Logan Jaffe here.
0:16.7	This time on Curia City, half-day road.
0:20.4	If you don't know it already, it's that long suburban stretch of road that runs from the Skoky River area to the intersection of Buffalo Grove Road.
0:28.7	If you're in Chicago's northern suburbs in Lake County, you've probably seen the exit signs on I-94.
0:34.6	But why is it called Half Day?
0:37.7	It takes half a day to get there?
0:39.3	Because taking the whole road takes half a day?
0:42.4	Because you need half a day to get from the city to the road?
0:45.8	I don't know.
0:47.9	I have no clue.
0:51.6	Anita Silvert, who grew up in Skokie, asked us a question with this suburban myth baked right in.
0:57.8	Here it is.
0:58.9	What is Half Day Road in the Northern Suburbs a Half Day from?
1:02.5	Who made the trip?
1:03.4	And in what kind of vehicle?
1:06.7	Well, reporter Laura Pavin found an answer to Anita's question.
1:11.6	Google it. You are wrong if you ever assumed that this road was named for the amount of time it takes to get from somewhere to somewhere.
	...

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