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From: mgh@hou5h.UUCP (Marcus Hand)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: tuna fish (actually re gooseberries)
Message-ID: <436@hou5h.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 29-Apr-85 22:32:17 EDT
Article-I.D.: hou5h.436
Posted: Mon Apr 29 22:32:17 1985
Date-Received: Tue, 30-Apr-85 07:24:16 EDT
References: <318@rtech.ARPA>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems Laboratories, Holmdel, NJ
Lines: 42

>From: jeff@rtech.ARPA (Jeff Lichtman)
>Article-I.D.: rtech.318
>References: <2550@drutx.UUCP> <395@ihu1m.UUCP> <2373@mit-hermes.ARPA>
>
>> 
>> I'm no Kiwi, (but I once had a girlfriend who was), but the so-called kiwi
>> fruit was renamed in New Zealand for base commercial reasons. Its original
>> English name was "Chinese gooseberry", and it is indeed a native of 
>> China, not New Zealand. Now, how many Americans know what a gooseberry 
>> looks/tastes like? (A large sour grape with bristles on it. Delicious in
>> pies.)
>> 
>> 	John Purbrick ...decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!mit-hermes!jpexg
>
>Gooseberries are not grapes.  They are closely related to currants.  Both
>currants and gooseberries are members of the genus "Ribes."  There is a type
>of small raisin called a "currant," but this is a red herring: the name is a
>corruption of "Corinth," which is the place the grapes were originally
>grown.
>
>Does anyone have a theory on the etymology of "gooseberry".  Webster's 2nd
>says: "goose + berry; or perhaps altered from some older form; cf. F.
>groseille, G. krausberre, krauselbeere, D. kruisbes, kruisbezie."  This
>isn't much help to me; I don't know the meanings of the foreign words.  It's
>possible that "gooseberry" is a corruption of one of the given words.
>On the other hand, it could be that the words literally translate as
>"goose berry."  Can anyone help?

--
Well my dictionary (Chambers 20 Century revised) tells me that
kraus is crisp or curled, and groisele or grosele is old french for gooseberry.
grossart is scottish for g.  It also says "[Perh. goose and berry; or
goose may be from MHG krus... , but doesn't tell us what krus is unless
its an old form of kraus.  

BTW chinese gooseberry is a sub-tropical vine, so it says.  I've been eating
them occasionally for 10 or 15 years at least and have seen them called
both names although I think the CG is the older.  They've been growing them
as a cash crop in Ca for some years now.

-- 
			Marcus Hand	(hou5h!mgh)