Barry Popik
Barry Popik (born 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" as "the restless genius of American etymology". Early life and education. 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. 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. Popik served as 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, the couple married shortly after and moved to Austin, Texas in September, 2006 - there they had two kids. After 7 years in Austin the Popik family moved back to New York.