“Big Apple”

The term “Big Apple” has been used to refer to the city of New York since the 1920s. There are many theories as to how the city got this name. Here is one. It is believed that African American stable boys working in the racetracks of New Orleans were the first to refer to New York as “Big Apple”. Many of the important horse races were held in New York and it was the dream of most jockeys and boys working in stables to get there. If you managed to make it to New York city, you had arrived; you had made it “big”. A sports reporter, John Fitzgerald, liked the term so much that he called his popular racing column, “Around the Big Apple”. In his introduction to the column on 18 February, 1924, he wrote, “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.”
Source:  ‘Know Your English’ Series – The Hindu Daily, Sept 5 , 2005.