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

2. Nickname for New York City: a major city in New York, United States.
   • 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: 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

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: a major city in New York, United States)

   Synonym: Grosse Pomme