The Big Apple: “An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did”

A plaque remaining from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem.

Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.

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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.

Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.

Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.

Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.

This site is edited by Barry Popik.

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Entry from January 27, 2013

“An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did”

"An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did” is a jocular definition of an accountant. “Accountant: A man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did” was cited in print in 1965 and credited to Evan Esar’s “Comic Dictionary.” Comedian Joey Adams (1911-1999) used the joke by at least 1981.

HathiTrust Digital Library
Comic Dictionary (revised and enlarged edition)
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Horizon Press
1951
Pg. 17:
accountant. A man whose business it is to prove that figures can lie.

2 April 1965, The Daily Gleaner (Kingston, Jamaica), “Comic Dictionary” by Evan Esar, pg. 14, col. 8:
Accountant
A man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.

Google Books
Strictly for Laughs
By Joey Adams
New York, NY: A & W Publishers
1981
Pg. 180:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.

15 March 1987, The Sunday Republican (Springfield, MA), “Glad You Asked That!” by Marilyn and Hy Gardner, pg. G-2, col. 4:
IN THESE TAXING TIMES, we offer Joey Adams’ definition of an accountant: “The guy you hire to prove you didn’t make the money you did!”

Google Books
Phillips’ Book of Great Thoughts and Funny Sayings:
A Stupendous Collection of Quotes, Quips, Epigrams, Witticisms, and Humorous Comments
By Bob Phillips
Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House
1993
Pg. 4:
ACCOUNTANT
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.

Google Books
20,000 Quips & Quotes
By Evan Esar
New York, NY: Barnes & Noble Books
1995, ©1968
Pg. 5:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.

Google Books
Business Wit & Wisdom
By Richard S. Zera
Washington, DC: Beard Books
2005
Pg. 18:
An accountant is a man hired to explain that you didn’t make the money you did.

Posted by Barry Popik
New York City • Banking/Finance/Insurance • Sunday, January 27, 2013 • Permalink