# The Big Easy

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 31, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492 "2005-08-31T21:54:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![betsyshoegal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@betsyshoegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betsyshoegal)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492/1 "2005-08-31T21:54:30Z")

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Does anyone know how/why New Orleans got the name the Big Easy??

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**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2005, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492/2 "2005-08-31T22:10:01Z")

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According to this:

> [@](#):
>
> This is an euphemism for New Orleans, like the “Crescent City,” that is attributed to Betty Guillaud, a gossip columnist for the Times Picayune, in the '70s as a term of endearment and an answer to the then I Love New York City hype. If it’s the “Big Apple” then New Orleans is the “Big Easy,” where everything is slower, simpler and easy-going.
> 
> SOURCE: [http://www.crescentcity.com/dictionary.htm](http://www.crescentcity.com/dictionary.htm)

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**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492/3 "2005-09-01T04:59:03Z")

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[nitpick]  
Whether or not **Whack-a-Mole** ’s link provides accurate information as to the source of the nickname “Big Easy”, I don’t think the author knows what the word _euphemism_ means. I think _nickname_, _sobriquet_, or _epithet_ would be work better in the first sentence.  
[/nitpick]

[No slight intended on **Whack-a-Mole** , of course.]

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**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\
**Post date:** [September 1, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492/4 "2005-09-01T16:11:48Z")

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Another name for it is “The City That Care Forgot.” I can’t begin to figure that one out.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [September 2, 2005, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-big-easy/319492/5 "2005-09-02T01:14:05Z")

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> [@AskNott](#):
>
> Another name for it is “The City That Care Forgot.” I can’t begin to figure that one out.

The group over at the American Dialect Society have found this name as far back as 1913. It meant a city without a care.