The Big Apple is a nickname for New York City. It was first popularized in the 1920s by John J. Fitz Gerald, a sports writer for the New York Morning Telegraph. Its popularity since the 1970s is due to a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau, known now as NYC & Company.
Contents 1 The nickname of New York 2 Other cities 3 References 4 External links // The nickname of New YorkAlthough the history of the Big Apple was once thought a mystery,1 research over the past two decades, primarily by amateur etymologist Barry Popik2 and Gerald Cohen of Missouri University of Science and Technology,3 has provided a reasonably clear picture of the term's history. Previously, there were a number of false etymologies,4 of which the most ridiculous was the claim that the term derived from a New York brothel whose madam was known as Eve.5 This was subsequently exposed as a hoax6 and has been replaced on the source web site with more accurate information.7
The earliest citation for "big apple" is the 1909 book The Wayfarer in New York, by Edward Martin, writing: "Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city. . . . It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap" (emphasis added).89 William Safire considered this the coinage, but the Random House Dictionary of American Slang considers the usage "metaphorical or perhaps proverbial, rather than a concrete example of the later slang term", and Popik likewise does not consider this the coinage.
The Big Apple was first popularized as a reference to New York City by John J. Fitz Gerald in a number of New York Morning Telegraph articles in the 1920s in reference to New York horse-racing. The earliest of these was a casual reference on May 3, 1921:
J. P. Smith, with Tippity Witchet and others of the L. T. Bauer string, is scheduled to start for "the big apple" to-morrow after a most prosperous Spring campaign at Bowie and Havre de Grace.10
Fitz Gerald referred to the "big apple" frequently thereafter.11 He explained his use in a February 18, 1924, column under the headline "Around the Big Apple":
The Big Apple. The dream of every lad that ever threw a leg over a thoroughbred and the goal of all horsemen. There's only one Big Apple. That's New York. Two dusky stable hands were leading a pair of thoroughbred around the "cooling rings" of adjoining stables at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and engaging in desultory conversation. "Where y'all goin' from here?" queried one. "From here we're headin' for The Big Apple," proudly replied the other. "Well, you'd better fatten up them skinners or all you'll get from the apple will be the core," was the quick rejoinder.12
Fitz Gerald's reference to the "dusky" stable hands suggests the term's origin may lie in African-American culture. Support for this is found in the Chicago Defender, an African-American newspaper that had a national circulation. “Ragtime” Billy Tucker, a vaudeville/ragtime performer and writer for the Defender, there used "big apple" to refer to New York in a non-horse-racing context on September 16, 1922:
I trust your trip to 'the big apple' (New York) was a huge success and only wish that I had been able to make it with you.13
The same writer had earlier used "Big Apple" as a reference to a different city, Los Angeles. This example, from May 15, 1920, is the earliest known use of "Big Apple" to refer to any city. It is possible that the writer simply understood "Big Apple" as an appropriate nickname for any large city:
Dear Pal, Tony: No, Ragtime Billy Tucker hasn't dropped completely out of existence, but is still in the 'Big Apple', Los Angeles.13
By the late 1920s, New York writers other than Fitz Gerald were starting to use "Big Apple" and were using it outside of a horse-racing context.14 "The Big Apple" was a popular song15 and dance16 in the 1930s. Walter Winchell and other writers continued to use the name in the 1940s and 1950s.17
By the 1960s, "the Big Apple" was known only as an old name for New York.18 In the early 1970s, however, the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau (now NYC & Company, the official marketing and tourism organization for New York City),19 under the leadership of its president, Charles Gillett, began promoting "the Big Apple" for the city.20 It has remained popular since then.21 Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in 1997 signed legislation designating the southwest corner of West 54th Street and Broadway, the corner on which John J. Fitz Gerald lived from 1934 to 1963, as "Big Apple Corner."22
Since 1980, the New York Mets baseball team has featured a "Home Run Apple" that rises when a Mets player used to hit a home run at Shea Stadium and now at Citi Field.
Other citiesManhattan, Kansas, refers to itself as "The Little Apple" in its promotional literature.
Minneapolis, Minnesota has called itself "The Mini-Apple"citation needed.
In Evita, Buenos Aires is referred to as "B.A., Buenos Aires, Big Apple" in the song Eva, Beware of the City. This reference was invented by lyricist Tim Rice and does not reflect preexisting use.
In 1981, Cleveland, Ohio attempted to join the ranks of Big-ness through the campaign "New York's The Big Apple, But Cleveland's a Plum"23
Other cities with similar nicknames24 include:
The Big Apricot - Metropolis (fictional: DC Comics) The Big Peach - Atlanta The Big Easy - New Orleans The Little Apple - Manhattan, Kansas also used by some East Africans for Nairobi The Big Guava - Tampa, Florida The Big Durian - Jakarta The Big Lime - Key Largo The Big Scrapple - Philadelphia The Big Chip - Lewisburg, Pennsylvania The Big D - Dallas The Big Burrito - Overland Park, Kansas The Big Onion - Chicago The Big Tomato - Sacramento The Big Mango - Bangkok. The term is also used for Cairo. Both Cairo and New York are sister cities. 25 The Big Chilli - Bangkok26 The Big O - Omaha The Big Lychee - Hong Kong The Big Orange - Tel AvivAlso see: Big Smoke
References ^ The Straight Dope: Why is New York called the Big Apple? (Feb. 18, 1977). ^ The Big Apple. This web site, owned and maintained by Barry Popik, contains updated information reflecting research by Popik and others and includes the text of significant examples. ^ Gerald Cohen, Origin of New York City's Nickname "The Big Apple" (1991), ISBN 3631437870. ^ False Etymologies. ^ Why Is New York City Called "The Big Apple"? Wayback Machine archive of earlier version of web page. ^ Big Apple Whore Hoax (1800s!). ^ Why Is New York City Called "The Big Apple"? ^ Safire, William (September 17, 2000), "Big Applesource", The New York Times Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/17/magazine/the-way-we-live-now-9-17-00-on-language-slurvian.html?pagewanted=2 ^ Safire, William (2004), The Right Word in the Right Place at the Right Time, p. p. 23 ^ First “Big Apple”: May 3, 1921. ^ Numerous 1920s “Big Apple” citations in the New York Morning Telegraph. ^ First “Big Apple” explanation: February 18, 1924. See also the original article image. ^ a b "Big Apple" antedating; 1920s Vaudeville/Ragtime “Big Apple” Citations. ^ 1920s Non-Horseracing “Big Apple” Citations. ^ “Big Apple” song by Bob Emmerich. ^ “Big Apple” in the 1930s (Two clubs, plus song and dance). ^ “Big Apple” in the 1940s-1950s. ^ Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five 265 (1969; Delta Trade Paperbacks ed. 1999) ("That's what they used to call New York"). ^ About NYC and Company. ^ Big Apple 1970s Revival: Charlie Gillett and Lew Rudin. ^ "Words and Their Stories: Nicknames for New York City". Voice of America. 2010-02-23. http://www1.voanews.com/a-23-2009-12-24-voa2-84659432.html. Retrieved 2010-03-02. ^ Mayor's Press Office, Release No. 082-97, Mayor Giuliani Signs Legislation Creating "Big Apple Corner" in Manhattan (Feb. 12, 1997). ^ Nothing Rotten About The Big Plum. ^ For more extensive lists of cities with similar nicknames, see List of city nicknames in the United States and Nicknames of Other Places. ^ [1] ^ [2] External links Giuliani creates Big Apple Corner from the February 1997 Archives of the Mayor's Press Office "Why Is New York City Called 'The Big Apple'?" The Big Apple Detailed research findings on the term's history from amateur etymologist Barry Popik Straight Dope article Big Apple Blog Big Apple Channel - A NYC TV network for the web
