Gothamite. Resident of New York City. In his Phrase and
Word Origins, Alfred H. Holt claims that this term was first
applied to New Yorkers in 1805 by Washington Irving.
(Mathews's Dictionary of Americanisms has an Irving
citation form 1807.) Holt explains Gotham for New York
thus: "The inhabitants of Gotham, in England, had long been
celebrated as fools (though one story has it that they got their
reputation by playing the fool intentionally to avoid the
expense of having to entertain the king). Irving's satirical
application of the name to New York was an allusion to the
Manhattanite's traditioanl air of 'knowing it all.'" Gotham
City is the home of comic book hero Batman, and across the
river is New Guernsey.