Yahoo! Answers hits the streets: Episode 5
Welcome to Answers on the Streets: Episode 5! Many cities have their original nicknames or are known for something special. Chicago is called the Windy City, Las Vegas is Sin City, and of course New York City is the Big Apple. The others make sense, but we wanted to ask you: Why is NYC nicknamed after a fruit?
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Question: Why is NYC called the Big Apple?
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You can start preventing a hangover the moment you start drinking. Pace yourself. Sprinkle snacks throughout the night. Alternate alcoholic beverages with nonalcoholic ones (especially water). Don’t keep drinking right up until you hit the hay. Stop drinking. Have something to eat. Have something to drink besides alcohol. (Water is a good bet, but I have found I’m in the clear even if I just have milk or soda or something.) It doesn’t hurt to take a couple Ibuprofens before you go to bed, if you think you’re likely to be hung over the next day. Then sleep late the next day (sleep through it) if you can.
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In the 1920′s “apple” was used in reference to the many racing courses in and around NYC. Apple referred to the prizes being awarded for the races, as these were important races, the rewards were substantial. Then it was used in the 1930′s by Jazz musiscians for there were many Apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple.
It was coined by a jazz musician.
I think you are wrong, People call it the Empire State
“It’s… BIGGER than an apple!”
Wow.
Thank you.
I have been enlightened.
This is somewhat orthogonal to the question posted, but I thought it worth commenting:
You say that Chicago being the Windy City “makes sense”, but that nickname did not originally come from where you would think:
When Chicago was building up to the World’s Fair (The Columbia Exposition in 1892) the Mayor of Chicago was boasting about how fabulous it was going to be. The Mayor of New York responded by calling him “windy”, and the nickname — for the entire city — stuck. Of course when the Fair actually happened, Chicago lived up to its mayor’s boasting.
May be from the phrase the ‘apple of one’s eye’ meaning “one’s favorite”, and New York being a place everybody liked (and still likes) because a lot of commercial activity went on there and so tempting for anybody who wanted to make something out of their lives!
NYC is probably named after a fruit, apple to be specific because the US is famous for its abundance and since NYC is the center of business and trade, it was named after the famous fruit.
Why the big apple ?
Because it’s rotten,can’t you see ?
Never been to America yet alone NewYork!! But from all the movies I’ve watched (especially Sex and The City) New York is the Big Apple because you can be anything you want to be in New York and be good at it. It’s the place where most people go to get a taste of success…like come get a taste of the Big Apple!! It’s THE Land of Opportunity in the land of opportunity-yeah, that’s what i think.
I found this at http://gonyc.about.com/cs/atozinde1/a/bigapple.htm and you can also check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Apple (Ms. Wiki knows it all
)
This commonly asked question got me wondering, why do we call New York City the Big Apple? While I’ve seen several apple trees in New York City, I don’t particularly recall them as being in notable quantity — there are certainly more pigeons than apples in New York City, but we don’t call New York City the “Big Pigeon.” As with anything New York, there are many opinions and contradictions.
In the early 1920s, “apple” was used in reference to the many racing courses in and around New York City. Apple referred to the prizes being awarded for the races — as these were important races, the rewards were substantial.
Based on the research of Barry Popik, the use of “Big Apple” to refer to New York City became clearer. Popik found that a writer for the New York Morning Telegraph, John Fitzgerald, referred to New York City’s races “Around the Big Apple.” It is rumored that Fitzgerald got the term from jockeys and trainers in New Orleans who aspired to race on New York City tracks, referring to the “Big Apple.”
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, New York City’s jazz musicians began referring to New York City as the “Big Apple.” An old saying in show business was “There are many apples on the tree, but only one Big Apple.” New York City being the premier place to perform was referred to as the Big Apple.
A 1971 campaign to increase tourism to New York City adopted the Big Apple as an officially recognized reference to New York City. The campaign featured red apples in an effort to lure visitors to New York City. It was hoped that the red apples would serve as a bright and cheery image of New York City, in contrast to the common belief that New York City was dark and dangerous. Since then, New York City has officially been The Big Apple.
In recognition of Fitzgerald, the corner of 54th & Broadway, where Fitzgerald lived for 30 years, was renamed “Big Apple Corner” in 1997.
its funny how no one who lives in the big apple ever call it the big apple. Usually when people say “hey are you from the big apple” we give them a weird look.
because of so many worms
Despite its turf-related origins, by the 1930s and ’40s, the
phrase had become firmly linked to the city’s jazz scene. “Big
Apple” was the name both of a popular night club at West 135th
Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem and a jitterbug-style
group dance that originated in the South, became a huge
phenomenon at Harlem’s great Savoy Ballroom and rapidly
spread across the country. (Neat cultural footnote: the great
African-American cinema pioneer Oscar Micheaux liked to
use the Big Apple as a venue for occasional screenings!
According to the Museum of the City of New York, the phrase was first used to describe NY City in a 1909 book, ‘The Wayfarer in New York’, edited by Edward Martin. Likening New York to one of the fruits of a large tree, it was stated that ‘the big apple (meaning New York) gets a disproportionate share of the national sap’. The phrase was further popularized in the 1920′s by New York Telegraph sports writer John J. Fitzgerald. It became popular with jazz musicians in the 1930′s and 40′s, then fell out of favor until revived by the New York Convention and Visitor’s Bureau in the 1970′s to attract tourists to the city.
i suppose just because its big its not exactly well known for its fruit maybe apple because apples are popular fruit to eat
It’s a big apple, come take a bite out of it! That’s what I think it is. Like, there are many opportunities! Come to big apple and you will get a slice. I always thought that because of all the immigrants coming through there.
haha i like the first answer, funny
I agree with the lady who said “you just take a big bite out of it…and enjoy it.”
It’s called “the big apple” because NY state is apple country. We have TONS of apple orchards that supply not only our grocers, but groceries nationwide. NY is known as “the apple state”. NYC is referenced as such because it is not only the largest city in NY state (or any other state for that matter) by square mileage, but large in the business sense as well. It’s a BIG city.
New York is nicknamed after a fruit because of its founders. Peter Stuyvesant (the dutch leader of New Amsterdam which is now New York City) gave up New Amsterdam without a fight, thus making him a fruit. Secondly, the Duke of York had to send a set of troops to fight a battle (that was never fought anyway) on a city that was on the verge on breaking on its own. This proves both leaders were “Big Apples” leaving the city with the nickname “The Big Apple” !:)
Its a promotional campaign by the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau in late 1920s by promoted by John J. Fitz Gerald in NY Morning Telegraph.
for an earlier comment: The State of New York is called the Empire State. (like the “Show Me State” or the “Live Free or Die State”… It’s NYC alone (Manhattan) that’s called the Big Apple.
because when your looking down at NYC from a birds eye view, it looks like a big apple.
We’re going there next spring and I just finished watching a New York State tourism video. New York State produces a lot of apples, and New York City just started getting called “the big apple” for that reason alone.
In one of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books, she refers to the “land of the big, red apple” when speaking of New York State. New York produces an impressive amount of apples, so I assume this is where the nickname comes from.
Because everyone wants a piece of the big apple.
Should be renamed the big pie.
Back in the 1930′s people used to used the nickname “apple” to reffer to a city. Since New york is the biggest city in america, it earned the nick name the “big apple”.
In reply to this comment….
I think you are wrong, People call it the Empire State
Comment posted on September 22nd, 2010 at 4:44 pm by aamir
YOU are wrong…the Empire STATE is the WHOLE STATE of New York….The Big Apple is in reference to New York City (NYC) which is a CITY in the STATE of New York.
It’s called the “Big Apple” because there is enough for everyone.
Actually Chicago is called “the windy city”, but not for the reason you might think. It was dubbed the windy city becasuse of the prominence of politicians, not the weather.
well, since an apple created a real mess at the beginning of our earthly story, I suppose that the big apple cannot be but the ‘Sex and the City’ NYC
Maybe the nickname has to do with pc (Mac ‘the apple’) there must be plenty of apples at work in NYC
Honestly … no idea
it is called the empire state and its ALSO called the big apple.
because it meins a national securit for Navey
and another meaning is the biggist fruit for every one can get his eating no body can sleep on it with his hungur
Because its sour,the pitts and full of worms
The Big Apple was given it’s name by New York news paper writer Edward Martin. You can find this in the wikepedia.
maybe its just a fruity city….
It’s the Big Apple because everybody wants a bite of the Apple….The BIG Apple….Its the Core of the USA, where all the action is…The City that never sleeps.LOL!
It’s the Big Apple because everybody wants a bite of the Apple….The BIG Apple….Its the Core of the USA, where all the action is…The City that never sleeps.LOL!
NY is big and apple is a very popular fruit so yea.
Well, apples in general have a very significant history, don’t they? The apple is perhaps one of the most famous fruits in history. Starting off with the apple from the bible, being labelled a fruit of sin, the apple has popped up at very odd places. The ‘big’ apple most likely refers to the most important apple, as in New York. It originates, as others have said, from somewhere back in time, sprouting up in famous jazz songs and revived to attract tourists.
New York City is called “The City That Never Sleeps” more often than The Big Apple, in my experience.
because it used to be an apple orchard, and it had the biggest apples. The Indians would sell apples to the pilgrims, and they were the biggest apples that the pilgrims had ever eaten. In British, big apples means New york!
Because New york is the juice, the center, of all the name brands!
When I was last in Philly, you could always buy the large soft pretzels at a lot of stop lights. I was told that the same applied to NYC in that you could always find someone selling apples on the corners.
i’m willing to bet it has to do with the amount of apple new state produces in the hudsen valley
because it used to be inside an apple
It should be called the infested apple.
It’s called The Big Apple in reference to the apple in Genesis, the object that lured Eve to sin.
New York State’s nickname = Empire State or appropriately “The Empire State”
New York City’s nickname = Big Apple or appropriately “The Big Apple”
Big Apple becuase it is fine and shiny on the outside, but rottin on the inside.
The term Big Apple comes from the horse-racing scene of the early 1900′s. New York city was considered the place where all ambitious people would want to go, their objective, like an apple that you place a few inches in front of a horse’s nose to keep it moving forward. It was popularized by a sports narrator called John Fitzgerald in the 1920′s.
The Big Apple: the big juicy prize we are all chasing after.
New York was called the Big Apple, because the artists who performed during their tours in America, received the biggest profits in New York. Every other place was poorer. So they started calling it The Big Apple, where every artist looking for revenue was heading. Want big fruit? Go for The Big Apple.
The State of New York was described as an apple tree. The branches were the other cities and villages,,,and New York was the APPLE (the Big One).
Especially the musicians used this expression: when they were playing on the branches (in the minor cities) and when they were playing in the Big Apple (playing in New York)…
For those of you who are confused, *New York* is a state, like California or Florida, and *New York City* is a city within New York State, like San Francisco or Miami.
I believe that New York is called the Big Apple because of the huge apple in Citi Field that used to be in Shea Stadium. The apple comes up every time there is a home run.
cuz everyone wants a big bite outta the big apple
no one wants a little apple– they go for the big juicy one (NYC) with the most flavor