Big Apple--make that TWO maybes

[Gerald Cohen]

At 3:09 PM -0600 1/18/03, Gerald Cohen wrote:
>Maybe some
>African-Americans spoke with some Irish (not an impossibility).
>Maybe the Irish referred to NYC as the Big Crossing at the Mouth
>(nowhere actually attested), and so maybe the African-Americans
>acquired "Big Áth Béal" and misinterpreted its sounds to be "Big
>Apple."


   I'm here amending my message that I sent a few minutes ago.
There's no doubt that some African-Americans spoke with some Irish.
The main lack of evidence concerns the Irish referring to NYC as Big
Ath Beal (accent aigu over A and e). Thus far there's none, zero,
zip, nada.