The Saturday briefing

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

- by CAROLINE FORD

CORE VALUE: Red apples were used to promote "The Big Apple" aka New York City and, below, a wild poppy.

Is there anything you're yearning to know? Send your questions, on any subject, to the contacts given below, and we will do our best to answer them...

Why is New York City called The Big Apple?

Mark Stephen,Southwick, West Sussex

New York City has been given many monikers over the years, including The City That Never Sleeps, but perhaps the most iconic of all is The Big Apple.

Originally named Manahatta — meaning “hilly island” by the indigenous Lenape people, it was called New Amsterdam by Dutch settlers in the 1620s. In 1664 the English military seized control and renamed it New York in honour of the Duke of York, later James II.

The Big Apple has its origins in horse racing, with “apples” used by stable hands in New Orleans as slang for prizes — as the horse itself doesn’t get paid in money but in apples. The biggest prizes in racing were at New York’s racetracks, so they were the “Big Apples.”

Jazz musicians of the era picked up the term to refer to gigs where the big money was, with New York City performances thought of as a “Big Apple” for musicians.