Tewder
Senior Member
It strikes me as somewhat arcane. Fine for cd liner notes, if they even exist anymore, but otherwise a little forced as a pet name.
It strikes me as somewhat arcane. Fine for cd liner notes, if they even exist anymore, but otherwise a little forced as a pet name.
Tulse
Senior Member
More so than, say, The Big Apple?
Tewder
Senior Member
Yes, way more so. The 'big apple', the 'big cheese' the 'big kahuna'... we get it. The '6'? If you have to explain it too much it just won't stick.
Tulse
Senior Member
I think the problem is that the more transparent the name is, the more generic and less distinctive it tends to be. I've sometimes heard people use "The Big Smoke" for Toronto, but that is also an appellation for London, and New York, and about a dozen other cities. Likewise, "Hogtown" gets used here, but also in Cincinnati (and confusingly, Chicago is "Hog Butcher to the World"). I have no idea where what cities are "The Big Cheese" or "Big Kahuna".
I like "The 6" precisely because it ties directly back to Toronto, and in a way that doesn't reference a no-longer-relevant past (as in "Hogtown" or "The Big Smoke"), but in a much more modern way.
Adjei
Senior Member
I don't see the need to use names such as "The 6" and "T-Dot" in the signs. It would seem a bit forced by the city. Just stick with putting up more of these signs and stop trying to make it more complex than it needs to be.
ksun
Senior Member
You can keep using it, but just like said, it simply won't stick. Even locals don't know it, let alone outsiders. And really, 6? Should I call Los Angles "23"?
You know why other nicknames don't work? Because those are not New York City. It is about the city, not the name.
Tewder
Senior Member
I"m just saying that the meaning of the 'big apple' is petty easy to glean. Regardless, anything like this has to be both distinctive and easily understood if it's going to resonate with people and be embraced by them. The '6' just doesn't have this.
Tuscani01
Senior Member
Oh really? Then why do I still not understand what the big apple means? I mean, I know its associated with New York, but why apple? I think if you asked most people, they wouldn't know either.
As for "the 6"... it has been embraced by people. It's everywhere. Our sports teams use the term, our universities are using it, the media is using it, and our celebrities are using it. I think it's safe to say its catching on, and will become something easily associated with Toronto in the near future, if not already.
DSC
Superstar
See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Apple
Etymology[edit]
Although the history of Big Apple was once thought a mystery,[1] research – primarily by amateur etymologist Barry Popik[2] and Gerald Cohen of Missouri University of Science and Technology[3] – has provided a reasonably clear picture of the term's history. Previously, there were a number of false etymologies,[4] including a claim that the term derived from a New York brothel whose madam was known as Eve.[5] This was subsequently exposed as a hoax[6] and has been replaced on the source website with more accurate information.[7]
Early mentions[edit]
The earliest citation for "big apple" is the 1909 book The Wayfarer in New York by Edward S. Martin, writing: "Kansas is apt to see in New York a greedy city.... It inclines to think that the big apple gets a disproportionate share of the national sap" (emphasis added).[8][9] William Safire considered this the coinage, but the Random House Dictionary of American Slang considers the usage "metaphorical or perhaps proverbial, rather than a concrete example of the later slang term", and Popik likewise does not consider this the coinage.
Racing context[edit]
In the early 1920s, "apple" was used in reference to the many racing courses in and around New York City. Apple referred to the prizes being awarded for the races – as these were important races, the rewards were substantial.
The Big Apple was first popularized as a reference to New York City by John J. Fitz Gerald in a number of New York Morning Telegraph articles in the 1920s in reference to New York horse-racing. The earliest of these was a casual reference on May 3, 1921:
Popularity and decline[edit]
By the late 1920s, New York writers other than Fitz Gerald were starting to use "Big Apple" and were using it outside of a horse-racing context.[14] "The Big Apple" was a popular song[15] and dance[16] in the 1930s. Walter Winchell and other writers continued to use the name in the 1940s and 1950s.[17]
By the 1960s, "the Big Apple" was known only as an old name for New York.[18] In the early 1970s, however, the New York Convention and Visitors Bureau (now NYC & Company, the official marketing and tourism organization for New York City),[19] under the leadership of its president, Charles Gillett, began promoting "the Big Apple" for the city.[20] It has remained popular since then.[21] Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani in 1997 signed legislation designating the southwest corner of West 54th Street and Broadway, the corner on which John J. Fitz Gerald lived from 1934 to 1963, as "Big Apple Corner".[22]
Tuscani01
Senior Member
^ Huh... not even close to what I thought it referred to. And also not a clear definition either.
Here's what people are saying about the 6:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/drake-puts-the-6-on-the-map
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...rake-gave-us-is-here-to-stay/article25421112/
If you even Google 'the 6', Toronto comes up!
Here's what people are saying about the 6:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-25/drake-puts-the-6-on-the-map
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news...rake-gave-us-is-here-to-stay/article25421112/
If you even Google 'the 6', Toronto comes up!
Adjei
Senior Member
The 6 is the first name I can say is getting attention outside of Toronto.
Torontovibe
Senior Member
I also don't understand why that is an issue? Is it wrong for younger Torontonians to create music about the city they grew up in? If the signs were based on Rock & Roll or Jazz, would that be more acceptable to you? What's the problem here? Why is Hip Hop culture considered tacky?
Armour
Senior Member
The overwrought prevalence of hip hop and its influence exemplifies the dilapidation of maturity, intelligence, class, selflessness and morals in our culture. It's bred a culture of purposely illiterate idiots, as well. And no, I'm not an old stock Canadian; I'm in my early 30s. I'm just thoroughly embarrassed by much of my generation.
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Armour
Senior Member
Why is there a need for any form of music to be reflected in such a way? Toronto's makeup is much broader than Drake's outlook (and what a phoney. He pretends to act all hard, yet he grew up in an affluent neighbourhood. Why doesn't his music mirror his privileged upbringing; too square, I suppose?) or anyone else from that scene. Hip hop means absolutely nothing to me. I am entirely disconnected from that world and have no interest in it. Many people detest, or are at least indifferent to it. Why is it such a go to reference point when promoting this city? The city's reputation would be better served (not just talking about potential signs here) by other means that aren't entrenched in poor linguistics, devaluing of women, and vulgar indulgence.