Why is Nashville also called the "big salt lick?"?

Answer 1

This link should answer your question:

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0108564.html

Answer 2

Nashville is also known by these nicknames!

The French Lick
The Big (Great) Salt Lick
The Bluff(s)
(Fort) Nashborough
The Athens of the West
The Powder City of the World
The Gateway of the South
The Golden Gate of the Sunny South
Rock City
The Iris City
The Wall Street of the South (particularly of Union Street)
City of Churches
The Protestant Vatican
The Buckle of the Bible Belt
The Country Music Capital of the World
The Third Coast
Nashvegas


...And these from Wikipedia.com
Nicknames
Nashville is a colorful, well-known city in several different arenas. As such, it has earned various sobriquets, including:

Music City, USA: WSM-AM announcer David Cobb first used this name during a 1950 broadcast and it stuck. It is now the official nickname used by the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau. Nashville is the home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Country Music Hall of Fame, and many major record labels.[23] This name also dates back to 1874, where after receiving and hearing a performance by the Fisk Jubilee Singers, Queen Victoria of England is reported as saying that "These young people must surely come from a musical city."[24]
Athens of the South: Home to twenty-four post-secondary educational institutions, Nashville has long been compared to the ancient city of learning, site of Plato's Academy. Since 1897, a full-scale replica of the Athenian Parthenon has stood in Nashville, and many examples of classical and neoclassical architecture can be found in the city. [5]
The Protestant Vatican or The Buckle of the Bible Belt: Nashville has over 700 churches (more than any other American city per capita)[citation needed], several seminaries, a number of Christian music companies, and is the headquarters for the publishing arms of both the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. It is also the seat of the National Association of Free Will Baptists, the Gideons International, the Gospel Music Association and Thomas Nelson, the world's largest producer of Bibles. [6]
Cashville: Nashville native Young Buck, a rapper in the G-Unit clique, released a very successful album called Straight Outta Ca$hville that has popularized the nickname among a new generation. [7]
Nashvegas: The rhinestones and neon of Nashville have given rise to a glitzy image that local residents have embraced. Playing off the image of Las Vegas, this nickname reflects the city's colorful nightlife and affluence. Americana music artist George Hamilton V has popularized the nickname in song.[25]
Titan Town: For its NFL team, the Tennessee Titans. [8]
Little Kurdistan: Nashville has the United States' largest population of Kurdish people, estimated to be around 11,000.[17][16]
Metro: Short for "Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County," Metro is used locally to refer to the city, as in "Metro Police" or "Metro Schools". [9]

Answer 3

I don't know why. PERHAPS, it developed music with saxaphones and similiar instruments or being on a river, there were salt deposits which were a salt lick.