|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 46
newbie
|
OP
newbie
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 46 |
Ispired by the message I received from fellow AWADtalk member, RhubarbCommando, "What with Oranges, apples and rhubarb, we have the makings of a fruit salad, here!" I decided to form a forum with the following question in mind: how did fruits and vegetables get their names? I've been especially confused by "pineapple". Is it really in reference to apples? Or am I sounding stupid by just asking that?  "A sobering thought: what if, at this very moment, I am living up to my full potential?" JANE WAGNER
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
I decided to form a forum with the following question in mind: how did fruits and vegetables get their names?The one contribution I can make to your salad is, unsurprisingly, kiwifruit. The name was chosen as a marketing tool after the fruit had been imported from China and bred into a marketable product. On this point, also, why is the country of origin of "kiwifruit" also almost the only place on Earth where the fruit is given its proper name? Whenever I hear that someone has kiwi for breakfast, I cringe. When spelled with a capital "K", "Kiwi" is a designation for a New Zealander. When spelled with a lowercase "k","kiwi" refers to the extremely endangered national bird of New Zealand. The edible product of Actinidia deliciosa is kiwi fruit. Please stop eating people and flightless birds, and enjoy your kiwifruit.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Thanks, Max--it's nice to know how to be politically correct in an area which I have not given much thought to.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
|
|
old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
>Whenever I hear that someone has kiwi for breakfast..<
I wonder how the fruit is called in Japan, since we heard of the Japanese taste for abbreviations..
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167
member
|
|
member
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 167 |
I seem to remember that the "official" name of kiwifruit was actually changed a few years back to something beginning with "z" (- zester? - can't remember)
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
I seem to remember that the "official" name of kiwifruit was actually changed a few years back to something beginning with "z"
The NZ Kiwifruit Marketing Board, in an attempt to distinguish its NZ-grown product from that of its competitors, badged it "zespri." I don't think the name did particularly well, IIRC
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200 |
in japanese, it's usually "kiui", but "kiuifuru-tsu" is also used.
just wondering why "kiwi" can't mean both the bird and the fruit?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200
enthusiast
|
|
enthusiast
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 200 |
cantaloupe comes from cantalupo in italy.
i heard that melons were bred to be soft, sweet and juicy from hard and bitter pumkin-like vegetables there.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
|
|
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
melons were bred to be soft, sweet and juicy from hard and bitter pumkin-like vegetables
That could be a lesson for living, sweet william (which incidentally is a lovely flower).
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204
Pooh-Bah
|
|
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
> I seem to remember that the "official" name of kiwifruit was actually changed a few years back to something beginning with "z"
I have a faint memory of this particular delicious fruit being called "chinese gooseberries" in UK when I was a child. Which seems reasonable if it originated in China, because it certanly does resemble a gooseberry in shale and colour.
|
|
|
|
Forums16
Topics13,913
Posts229,809
Members9,187
| |
Most Online3,341
Dec 9th, 2011
|
|
|
0 members (),
465
guests, and
2
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
|
