Big Apple

English

Etymology

Popularized by John J. Fitz Gerald in horse-racing articles in the 1920s - an apple being a treat for a horse, and New York being a prize location for horse-racing at the time. From usage among African American stable hands. See the Wikipedia article.

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.

Proper noun

the Big Apple

1. A nickname for New York City.
   • 1976, “Song for Sharon”, in Hejira, performed by Joni Mitchell:

     Sharon, I left my man
     At a North Dakota junction
     And I came out to the Big Apple here
     To face the dream's malfunction

Translations

nickname for New York City

• Armenian: Մեծ խնձոր (Mec xnjor)
• Basque: Sagar Handia
• Catalan: Gran Poma f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: ^{(please verify)} 大蘋果／大苹果 (Dà Píngguǒ)

• Corsican: Grande Mela f
• Esperanto: Granda Pomo
• Estonian: Suur Õun
• Finnish: Nykki (fi); Iso Omena
• French: Grosse Pomme (fr) f, Big Apple (fr) f
• Galician: Gran Mazá f
• Georgian: დიდი ვაშლი (didi vašli)
• German: Big Apple (de) m
• Greek: Μεγάλο Μήλο n (Megálo Mílo)
• Hungarian: Nagy Alma
• Italian: Grande Mela f
• Japanese: ビッグ・アップル (Biggu Appuru)
• Korean: 빅 애플 (Bik Aepeul)
• Mongolian: Том Алим (Tom Alim)
• Polish: Wielkie Jabłko n
• Portuguese: Grande Maçã (pt) f
• Russian: Большо́е я́блоко (ru) n (Bolʹšóje jábloko)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Велика Ја̏бука f

  Roman: Velika Jȁbuka f

• Spanish: Gran Manzana f

See also

• Big Peach

References

• Michael Quinion (2004) “Big Apple”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
• John J. Fitz Gerald (1924) “Around the Big Apple”, in New York Morning Telegraph‎^[1]

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English Big Apple.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bi.ɡ‿a.pœl/

Proper noun

Big Apple f

1. Big Apple (nickname for New York City)

   Synonym: Grosse Pomme