Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site dciem.UUCP Path: utzoo!dciem!mmt From: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: GRAPEfruit? Message-ID: <1474@dciem.UUCP> Date: Wed, 20-Mar-85 19:01:55 EST Article-I.D.: dciem.1474 Posted: Wed Mar 20 19:01:55 1985 Date-Received: Wed, 20-Mar-85 20:16:11 EST References: <345@ihu1m.UUCP> Reply-To: mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) Distribution: net Organization: D.C.I.E.M., Toronto, Canada Lines: 19 Summary: 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!mmt