A Language All His Own

Think you're good with languages? See if you can translate Daleyspeak:

match the quote to the topic our mayor was allegedly addressing.

What He Said

1. "I said to him, 'You get a guy over there and a guy over there, and that's all you need. If you get shot at a Bears game, you deserve it.'"

2. "I am not supposed to attend an event? What am I supposed to do, run away? Am I supposed to run down Taylor Street, go to Halsted Street, and run Halsted Street to Washington and back to City Hall? I was with Jim Edgar yesterday. Big deal."

3. "You can shout and scream, but don't take a brick and throw it at somebody."

4. "Do they want to write the exam? I can't give people answers. I want to know what's wrong with the questions. Is it a ten-floor ladder or a four-foot ladder? You figure it out."

5. "How am I benefiting myself? I'm moving out then, how about that? I'll move to an [area] that doesn't have one. So I moved there. Am I supposed to now move?"

6. "They had an appropriate time to go to the bathroom. You can't go in your pants, guys. Give me a break."

What's He Talking About?

A. Why he appeared at a press event (the dedication of a new branch library on the near west side) with Republican gubernatorial candidate George Ryan the day after attending a fund-raiser for Ryan's Democratic rival, Glenn Poshard.

B. Recent ruling by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

that the Chicago Fire Department's 1995 entrance exam was biased

and contributed to discrimination in hiring and promotions.

C. Charges that there was rampant cheating during the January

police sergeant's exam.

D. Charges that the public school system opens magnet high schools

in neighborhoods with a high concentration of top school officials,

aldermen on the City Council Education Committee, and currently

sitting mayors.

E. Appropriate and inappropriate ways to celebrate a Bulls victory.

F. Daley's contention that President Clinton travels with too many bodyguards.

--Jack Helbig

Answers: 1-F, 2-A, 3-E, 4-B, 5-D, 6-C

Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo by Bill Stamets.