Name Barry Popik | ||
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Education Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | ||
Barry Popik (born 1961) is an American etymologist who is recognized as an expert on the origins of the terms "Big Apple", "Windy City", and "hot dog". He is a consulting editor of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America and was described in The Wall Street Journal as "the restless genius of American etymology".
Contents
Etymology career
Popik is a contributor-consultant to the Oxford English Dictionary, Dictionary of American Regional English, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, and The Yale Book of Quotations.
Popik's theory on the etymology of Big Apple—that it was first popularized in the 1920s by sports writer John J. Fitz Gerald—led to the New York City street corner where Fitz Gerald lived being renamed "Big Apple Corner".
Political career
Popik was the Republican Party and Liberal Party of New York candidate for election as Manhattan Borough President in 2005. Popik received more than 40,000 votes but finished second to Scott Stringer, who received more than 200,000 votes. Stringer spent more than $1.5 million on his election campaign, whereas Popik spent less than $10,000.
Personal background
Barry Popik was born and raised in Rockland County, New York in 1961, to Silvia Stahl and Sidney Popik. He was educated at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, in Troy, New York, graduating with a B.S. in economics in 1982, and a B.S. in management in 1982. He received a J.D. from Touro Law School in Huntington, New York in 1985. His passion for Munson led him to try and fail to organize an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Popik met his wife Angie Garcia, a political strategist, while running for Manhattan Borough President in 2005, the couple married shortly after that in March 2006 surrounded by friends and family at Astoria World Manor. Popik served as a Law Judge with the Parking Violations Bureau of the City's Department of Finance. Shortly after their marriage Angie and Barry moved to Austin, Texas in September, 2006 to start and family, there they had two kids. After 7 years in Austin the Popiks moved briefly back to New York City in May 2013, and in September 2013 to Goshen, New York. He is also rated a chess master.