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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Columbus would have been dead for almost 300 years.
Yup. I really ought to try being awake when I post.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Which brings us back to the observation that apple used to mean any fruit. Well almost any fruit.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Re pineapples : they're a sign of welcome here in New England. Many homes have brass doorknockers in pineapple shapes.
When friends visited from New Delhi (Mr& Mrs Roshan Lal Jaswal) we were entertained by the local Rotary club as my friend was a Rotarian in India (District 93 if I remember correctly.)
Since they are vegetarians Roshan and Leela were served fresh fruit & yogurt, the fruits arranged in a split pineapple. During his short remarks to the assembly Roshan mentioned that the pineapple is a symbol of hospitality in India.
So - a question : How did pineapple get to be THE symbol of hospitality? Apparently world-wide!
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
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Beginning in Europe in the late 17th century and extending into American during the 18th century, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality and friendship. When New England sea captains returned from their long voyages to the South Seas, they would spear a precious pineapple on their iron gate to announce to friends and neighbors that the Captain was home and all were welcome.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Beginning in Europe in the late 17th century and extending into American during the 18th century, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality and friendship. When New England sea captains returned from their long voyages to the South Seas, they would spear a precious pineapple on their iron gate to announce to friends and neighbors that the Captain was home and all were welcome.
Whoa, Sparteye! How do you know these things?
[impressed-as-all-get-out emoticon]
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
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Beginning in Europe in the late 17th century and extending into American during the 18th century, the pineapple became a symbol of hospitality and friendship. When New England sea captains returned from their long voyages to the South Seas, they would spear a precious pineapple on their iron gate to announce to friends and neighbors that the Captain was home and all were welcome.
Sparteye, I hope you're not making that up, because we bought a pineapple on the weekend, and we ate it last night, and of course I gave my husband the whole explanation. (Funny, you can't find decent Italian bread, cheese, or kalamata olives in Newfoundland, but hey - they get pineapples!)
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addict
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addict
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cantaloupe comes from cantalupo in italy.
This is where the English word came from, but why ever did the Italians call it this? It would translate as something like "the wolf sings" or perhaps "wolfsong." Is there some connection between cantaloupes and wolves of which I, until now, have been blissfully ignorant? Or perhaps, re-reading, this means it came from a place called Cantalupo, where perhaps wolves sang, without regard or relation to the presence of melons.
Thinking back to when I lived in Italy, I think they just called a cantaloupe "melone" - often served with some paper-thin prosciutto wrapped around it - mmm, the salty-sweet contrast, the hot Sardinian sun, the blue, blue Mediterranean...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Hyla opines: Or perhaps, re-reading, this means it came from a place called Cantalupo, where perhaps wolves sang, without regard or relation to the presence of melonsThat's what the AHD suggests ( http://www.bartleby.com/61/53/C0075300.html suggesting either Cantalupo in Italy or Cantaloup in France.
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veteran
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veteran
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Cantalupo
I know Italian pretty well and have never heard the word cantalupo, but I suppose it's a word somewhere, if only in the dictionary. When I was in Italy, a cantaloupe was generally called melone, as were other melons, since that's the generic word for melon. Occasionally, when there was a need to distinguish between melons, a cantaloupe would be called melone di pane (bread melon) vs. a melone ad aqua (water melon).
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Thinking back to when I lived in Italy, I think they just called a cantaloupe "melone"
IN Zild, if one hears "cantaloupe", the person uttering the word may as well have"USn" tattooed in bright orange on their forehead. It is one of those words we think of as "American", while we call the fruit in question rock melon.
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