Barry Popik (born August 6th, 1961) is an American etymologist. Popik is a consulting editor of the ''Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America'' and was described in ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'' as "the restless genius of American etymology".

Early life and education

Popik was born and raised in

Rockland County, New York Rockland County is the southernmost county on the west side of the Hudson River in the U.S. state of New York. It is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the county's population is 338,329, making it the state' ...

, in 1961, to Silvia Stahl and Sidney Popik. He was educated at

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (; RPI) is a private university, private research university in Troy, New York, United States. It is the oldest technological university in the English-speaking world and the Western Hemisphere. It was establishe ...

, in

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, 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 Huntington is one of ten Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town's population was 204,127 at the time of the 2020 census, making it the 11 ...

, in 1985.

Career

Popik is a freelance contributor-consultant to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the principal historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP), a University of Oxford publishing house. The dictionary, which published its first editio ...

'', ''

Dictionary of American Regional English The ''Dictionary of American Regional English'' (''DARE'') is a record of regional variations within American English, published in five volumes from 1985 to 2012 and based on data mostly collected in the 1960s. It differs from other dictionarie ...

'', ''

Historical Dictionary of American Slang The ''Historical Dictionary of American Slang'', often abbreviated ''HDAS'', is a dictionary of American slang. The first two volumes, ''Volume 1, A – G'' (1994), and ''Volume 2, H – O'' (1997), were published by Random House, and the work t ...

'' and ''

The Yale Book of Quotations ''The Yale Book of Quotations'' is a quotations collection focusing on modern and American quotations. Edited by Fred R. Shapiro, it was published by Yale University Press in 2006 with a foreword by Joseph Epstein, . Prior to publication it was ...

''. Popik contributed his independent research to the 2011 edition of Professor Gerald Cohen's original 1991 monograph on the etymology of " Big Apple" — that it was first popularized in the 1920s by sports writer John J. Fitz Gerald — which led to the New York City street corner where Fitz Gerald lived being renamed "Big Apple Corner" in 1997.

Political career

Popik was the Republican Party and

Liberal Party of New York The Liberal Party of New York is a political party in New York (state), New York. Its political platform, platform supports a standard set of socially liberal policies, including abortion rights, increased spending on education, and universal h ...

candidate for election as Manhattan Borough president in 2005. He received more than 40,000 votes and finished second to Scott Stringer, who received more than 200,000 votes. Popik was a law judge with the Parking Violations Bureau of the city's Department of Finance.

Personal life

Popik met his wife Angie Garcia, a political strategist, while running for Manhattan Borough president in 2005. They married shortly afterward and moved to

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

, in September 2006, and had two children. After seven years in Austin, the family moved back to New York.

Publications

;Author * * ;Contributor * *

References

;Notes

External links

Barry Popik's website, The Big Apple
{{DEFAULTSORT:Popik, Barry 1961 births Living people Etymologists People from Rockland County, New York People from Austin, Texas Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute alumni