Many cities have interesting nicknames. New Orleans probably has more nicknames than any other American city. One web site lists its more than twenty nicknames. The most famous is “The Big Easy”. It shows the slow and easy-going way of life in New Orleans. 　　    So how did the city get this nickname? In the early 1900s there was a dance hall in New Orleans called “The Big Easy”. But the nickname did not become famous until the early 1970s. That was when a newspaper writer began calling New Orleans by this name. She compared the easy-going way of life there to the hurried pace of life in New York City. In 1970, James Conaway wrote a book called “The Big Easy”. The story was in New Orleans. In 1987, they made that book into a film. It made the nickname even more popular. 　　New Orleans has other nicknames. Another nickname is “The Birthplace of Jazz”, because that kind of music started in New Orleans. And, there is a nickname that uses the short way to write New Orleans and Louisiana. It you do not want to use the complete  name, you can call the city “NOLA.”