"Big Apple" Origin--Gotham Center FAQ item is erroneous

[Gerald Cohen]

Dear Members of the American Dialect Society (with cc. to the Gotham Center):

   And the beat goes on. The latest blunder in the treatment of origin
of  "The Big Apple" comes from the Gotham Center. If the compiler of
the  FAQ item there would like to contact me, I'll be happy to answer
any questions in this regard.

    Meanwhile, the "whore etymology" is a hoax; its credibility is
zero. The only defensible etymology is the one which sees turf writer
John J. Fitz Gerald as the popularizer of the sobriquet, with due
credit given by him to two "dusky" (i.e., African-American)
stable-hands in New Orleans. There is, as far as I know, no scholarly
debate on the subject. The only disagreement comes from people who
are *not* scholars, i.e., they have not researched the issue, they
show no signs of having seen Barry Popik's convincing evidence and
have certainly not refuted it.

     Bibliographic references on the subject are:

1) Cohen, Gerald. _Origin of New York City's Nickname "The Big
Apple"_ ( = Forum Anglicum, vol. 19), Frankfurter am Main: Peter
Lang, 1991. -- (does not yet contain Barry Popik's evidence; this
comes in the subsequent articles)

2) Cohen, Gerald 1993a.  'Update #1 on "The Big Apple"' (with
considerable information from Barry Popik). in: _Studies in Slang_
(ed.: Gerald Cohen), part III.  Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang.
pp.132-151.
3) Cohen, Gerald 1993b. 'The Origin of NYC's Nickname "The Big
Apple"'.  in _Names_ (Journal of the American Name Society) vol. 41,
pp.23-28.  This article is a slight revision of my 1992 Presidential
address to the American Name Society.
4) Cohen, Gerald 1993c. ' Update #2 on "The Big Apple"'.  in:
_Studies in Slang_ (ed.: Gerald Cohen), part IV.  (The information is
primarily from Barry Popik.)   Frankfurt a.M.: Peter Lang. pp.141-160.

      See _Morning Telegraph_, Dec. 1, 1926, p.11, rightmost column,
"In the Paddock with John J. Fitz Gerald" (spotted by Barry Popik):
"So many people have asked the writer about the derivation of his
phrase, 'the big apple,' that he is forced to make another
explanation."
     Note: "HIS phrase."

----The Gotham Center treatment is:
>http://gothamcenter.org/faq.shtml
>
>Why is New York called  the "Big Apple"?
>
>There is essentially no agreement on an answer to this question.
>What one scholar will propose as authoritative, another will dismiss
>entirely. Some trace the name to horse racing, others to NYC's past
>prostitutes... Many explanations seem plausible and none seems
>certain.
>

Gerald Cohen
Professor of German and Russian
Editor, Comments on Etymology
University of Missouri-Rolla
Rolla, MO 65409