gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) (03/18/85)
--
OK, nature lovers, does anyone know how the grapefruit got it's
name? My dictionary (a Winston 1936 edition--the "Flags of the
World" plate has some colorful entries for Latvia, Estonia, the
Spanish Republic, and of course, the German Reich) simply notes
"grape + fruit", but honestly, it's awfully hard to discern any
similarity between the two species. Grapes not only don't look
anything like grapefruits, they also don't taste anything like
them, and anyone who can't tell a grape vine from a grapefruit
tree has one or the other for brains. What's the straight poop?
--
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..ihnp4!iwsl8!ken *** ***ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (03/19/85)
> "grape + fruit", but honestly, it's awfully hard to discern any > similarity between the two species. Grapes not only don't look > anything like grapefruits, they also don't taste anything like > them, and anyone who can't tell a grape vine from a grapefruit > tree has one or the other for brains. What's the straight poop? The large yellow fruit appears to grow in bunches on the tree. -Ron
mgh@hou5h.UUCP (Marcus Hand) (03/19/85)
My dictionary (Chambers 20th Century revised edition) has Grapefruit -- a fine variety of the shaddock, the pamplemouse, with sometimes a slightly grape-like taste. ie, Chambers don't know the origin either! I've certainly never eaten a grape flavoured grapefruit. Incidentally, its much more forthcoming on the shaddock; Shaddock, n. an Oriental citrus fruit like a very large orange, esp. the larger pear-shaped variety, distinguished from the finer grapefruit: the tree that bears it. [Introduced to the W. Indies c. 1700 by Captain Shaddock.] -- Marcus Hand (hou5h!mgh)
jcp@osiris.UUCP (Jody Patilla) (03/19/85)
> -- > OK, nature lovers, does anyone know how the grapefruit got it's > name? My dictionary (a Winston 1936 edition--the "Flags of the > World" plate has some colorful entries for Latvia, Estonia, the > Spanish Republic, and of course, the German Reich) simply notes > "grape + fruit", but honestly, it's awfully hard to discern any > similarity between the two species. Grapes not only don't look > anything like grapefruits, they also don't taste anything like > them, and anyone who can't tell a grape vine from a grapefruit > tree has one or the other for brains. What's the straight poop? Seems to me that I read someplace that this was because when European explorers first found grapefruits, they called them so because they grew in clusters like grapes. I've never *seen* a grapefruit tree so I have no idea if this has any possible validity. -- jcpatilla "'Get stuffed !', the Harlequin replied ..."
jc@mit-athena.UUCP (John Chambers) (03/19/85)
Yet another non-answer: A couple years back I "tested" a book on etymologies by looking up "grapefruit", and found the explanation that it was because grapefruit grows in bunches like grapes. Well, I lived in Florida long enough to know that grapefruit grows pretty much like other citrus--in clusters of maybe 3 or 4 fruit, but never anything like grapes. I put the book back down. -- John Chambers [...!decvax!mit-athena] If you're not part of the solution, then you're part of the precipitate.
benson@dcdwest.UUCP (Peter Benson) (03/20/85)
John Ciardi in his second book on etymology suggests that
grape fruit comes from "great fruit", where t -> p/ _f,
a very believable rule. Since grapefruit is so large, the
etymology makes sense, but, of course, some citations would be
nice, documenting the source. He also points out that the
shaddock, which is another type of large citrus, is named
after the man who {found, invented} the grapefruit.
Had I my copy of the book here at my desk, I would quote you
chapter and verse, but I don't, so you must take me at my
memory.
By the way, has anyone a good etymology for "pay through the
nose" ??
--
_
Peter Benson | ITT Defense Communications Division
(619)578-3080 | 10060 Carroll Canyon Road
decvax!ittvax!dcdwest!benson | San Diego, CA 92131
ucbvax!sdcsvax!dcdwest!benson | darryl@ISM780.UUCP (03/20/85)
>The large yellow fruit appears to grow in bunches on the tree. > >-Ron You obviously haven't seen a grapefruit tree before. The grapefruits hanging from the tree outside my window DO NOT hang in BUNCHES. They grow as singletons on the end of twigs. BTW, my Webster's New Collegiate doesn't give an etymology -- they must realize how silly it would sound. So, does anyone have a real answer to this critical gap in the history of the English Language? (-:) --Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp. ...!cca!ima!ism780!darryl The views expressed above are my opinions only.
ron@brl-tgr.ARPA (Ron Natalie <ron>) (03/20/85)
> >The large yellow fruit appears to grow in bunches on the tree. > > > >-Ron > > You obviously haven't seen a grapefruit tree before. The grapefruits hanging > from the tree outside my window DO NOT hang in BUNCHES. They grow as > singletons on the end of twigs. BTW, my Webster's New Collegiate doesn't > give an etymology -- they must realize how silly it would sound. So, > does anyone have a real answer to this critical gap in the history of > the English Language? (-:) > I read the bunch theory before, possibly in the encyclopedia article on fruit (we were having an argument on whether certain things commonly called vegetables were fruit or not). I am not alone in my silly theory as several other people posted the same opinion. Looking in my Random House dictionary just now, I find: [GRAPE+FRUIT, appar. from the resemblence of its clusters to those of grapes]. Walking accross the hall and picking up the Hernia edition Websters Third New International Dictionary, I find in the definition section: "...tree derived from the shadoch which it differs chiefly in fruit characters, glabrous leaves and twigs, clustered growth of flowers and fruit, ..." and it the etymology section: [so called from its growing in clusters]. -Ron
gam@amdahl.UUCP (Gordon A. Moffett) (03/20/85)
... so named because the fruit grows in clusters on the trees
giving the appearance of (large, yellow) grapes.
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Gordon A. Moffett ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun}!amdahl!gammmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (03/21/85)
I know one is supposed to look up sources, but a couple of people
have done so unsuccessfully, so may I enter a folk etymology for
Grapefruit?
In the old days, there was a kind of loading for cannon called
"grapeshot" or simply "grape", which consisted of a lot of balls
smaller than cannonballs (I forget whether they were linked physically
into a bunch). Perhaps grapefruit, being about the same size and
possibly visual texture, look to some eyes like "grape" (and perhaps
could be used in the same way), so that they were the "grape-like-fruit."
Pure, unadulterated speculation. Maybe it belongs in net.jokes,
but I like it here.
--
Martin Taylor
{allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt
{uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmtmac@uvacs.UUCP (mac the naif) (03/21/85)
I have read that an earlier form of Grapefruit was Greatfruit. This name makes more sense. The change from T+F to P+F is a simplification of sounds (sandhi) of the form (dental stop)+(labial fricative) -> (labial stop)+(labial fricative). "It is indeed a great wall" R.M.Nixon
barryg@sdcrdcf.UUCP (Lee Gold) (03/22/85)
Random House claims the grapefruit got its name "apparently from the resemblance of its clusters to those of grapes." --Lee Gold
richard@boulder.UUCP (Richard Byrd) (03/22/85)
Some folks have been disparaging the "bunch of grapes" etymology on the grounds that they have seen grapefruit growing singly. However the ones I have seen (in Texas) grow in well defined bunches of about 6 fruit. The visual effect is similar to a bunch of grapes and that etymology seems reasonable to me. Perhaps this property varies among varieties of the fruit.
hav@dual.UUCP (Helen Anne Vigneau) (03/29/85)
=> >The large yellow fruit appears to grow in bunches on the tree.
=> >
=> >-Ron
=>
=> You obviously haven't seen a grapefruit tree before. The grapefruits hanging
=> from the tree outside my window DO NOT hang in BUNCHES. They grow as
=> singletons on the end of twigs. BTW, my Webster's New Collegiate doesn't
=> give an etymology -- they must realize how silly it would sound. So,
=> does anyone have a real answer to this critical gap in the history of
=> the English Language? (-:)
=>
=> Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp., ..!cca!ima!ism780!darryl
No etymology in the AHD (paperback) that lives on my desk, either. But I'm
willing to confirm that they do *not* grow in bunches. Curiouser and curiouser.
Helen Anne
{ucbvax,ihnp4,cbosgd,hplabs,decwrl,unisoft,fortune,sun,nsc}!dual!hav
If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music he hears,
however measured or far away.lethin@yale.ARPA (Richard A. Lethin) (04/05/85)
Summary: Expires: Sender: Followup-To: Distribution: Keywords: The notion has been put forth by my neighbor two terminals over at this ungodly hour as he ponders his senior essay... ...that the grapefruit is a hybrid fruit bred by man which would not exist in nature without him, much like corn (not maize, that's the point...) ...just in case you cared Rich Lethin, and his neighbor, Mr. Paul Botts...