Reading the Illuminatus! trilogy I came across a name, Steve Brodie, that I was intrigued to look up on the intarweb. Seems that the expression from my youth, "doing a brodie", comes from Steve claiming to have jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge (and survived) in 1886. Apparently there was some doubt that he actually did it, but the notoriety helped him when he opened a bar.

I seem to remember the expression referred to sliding sideways in a car or on a bicycle . I didn't get too many hits on Yahoo! on it, but there are a few and that seems to be the way others use the terms, pretty much.