[MR] Food question

[Gerald Belton]

Cian of Storvik wrote:

>In the ABOUT.com web site it states "Spain and Italy
>they were known as Pomi d'oro meaning yellow apples
>and that the FRENCH refered to the tomato as "Pommes
>d'amour" or love apples.
>
And Wikipedia gives an alternate version, which says the English called 
them "love apples" because they misheard the Italian "pomo d'oro" as 
"pomo d'amoro."  That sounds like a folk etymology to me, and Wikipedia 
isn't always trustworthy since anyone can edit the entries.

The Oxford English Dictionary agrees with About.com, and says that "love 
apple" derives from the French. And it then cites Gerard's Herbal (1597) 
which says "The apple of loue is called in Latine..Poma amoris."

That's probably more than anyone wanted to know, but sitting at my desk 
researching this has been much more entertaining than cleaning out my 
storage room, which is what I'm supposed to be doing right now. Besides, 
this gave me an excuse to actually USE that 40-lb dictionary.

Owain Penbras
Buckston-on-Eno