no, seriously: Why is New York City called "The Big Apple"?

December 9, 2004 8:42 PM

OK, this may be stupid, but I've asked this of many people before and I've never recieved a satisfactory answer. Why is New York City called "The Big Apple"? Best answer I've gotten so far is "Because it is rotten to the core"
posted by Eekacat to Travel & Transportation around New York, NY (10 answers total)

The sexual connotation of the word "apple" was well known in New York and throughout the country until around World War I.
posted by dabitch at 8:44 PM on December 9, 2004

dunno if it's correct and all, but it's the first hit when you google why is it called the big apple
posted by dabitch at 8:46 PM on December 9, 2004

The Straight Dope on the Big Apple.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:54 PM on December 9, 2004

Gerald Cohen, the guy mentioned in that Straight Dope article, was my German professor.

Eekacat--.
posted by rajbot at 9:18 PM on December 9, 2004

I remember reading that jazz musicians had something to do with that term. A google search brought me this, which is fun reading.
posted by goofyfoot at 9:27 PM on December 9, 2004

Our own Mo Nickles addressed this yesterday on DTWW.
posted by judith at 10:09 PM on December 9, 2004

>I remember reading that jazz musicians
I've heard Lester Young coined it.
posted by philfromhavelock at 10:14 PM on December 9, 2004

Being from South Carolina and having heard far-fetched tales that SC had spawned a dance fad (eh?) way back in the 30s led me to this.
posted by LondonYank at 1:34 AM on December 10, 2004

The first and second link in this thread is a fake. It is not true. It is not even partially true. The man who wrote it has admitted it is fake. He wrote it as a fake or a joke. It's not the result of bad scholarship: He invented details out of whole cloth on purpose. But he refuses to take it down because he is infatuated with the traffic he gets. The quotes are fake. The names are fake. The dates are fake. The whole thing is a fake. Yet, lazy journalists and guidebook writers keep quoting it. Barry Popik—who should know what is fake and what is not when it comes to "The Big Apple"—has a bit more to say about it.

If this were another era, I'd challenge Salwen to a duel.

Also, just to confirm the dance fad origin is demonstrably wrong. Jazz musicians did not coin it. Lester Young did not coin it.
posted by Mo Nickels at 3:21 AM on December 10, 2004

PS: I should note that I host Barry Popik's web site on my hosting account at Pair.com (only one dollar more per domain per month!) and help him with technical issues. Also, Barry and Gerald Cohen are professional colleagues of mine.
posted by Mo Nickels at 3:24 AM on December 10, 2004