the.com/lime
the citrus that prevented scurvy and started a slang war over Brits
means A small, round, green citrus fruit with a sharp, tart juice, used in cooking, drinks, and once as a defense against scurvy at sea.
from "Lime" came into English through French "lime" and Spanish "lima," which trace back to Arabic "līma" — a collective term for citrus fruits — and possibly further to Persian. The Royal Navy's practice of issuing lime and lemon juice to sailors to ward off scurvy is what earned British sailors (and eventually all Brits, in American slang) the nickname "limeys." Note: the lime you climb (the linden tree) and the lime you whitewash with (calcium oxide) are unrelated words — the mineral "lime" comes from Old English "līm," meaning a sticky substance, a cousin of "loam" and "slime."
- Naval origin
- Limes earned British sailors the nickname limeys
- Glows up
- Lime juice fluoresces blue under ultraviolet light
- Genetic ghost
- Most limes are sterile hybrids cloned for centuries
- Concrete kin
- Quicklime, the mortar mineral, shares only the name
persian lime — most common commercial lime, 60% of global production, primarily from mexico and brazil
key lime — small yellow-green lime native to key west, florida, used in key lime pie since 1850s
blood lime — rare hybrid lime with red-purple flesh, discovered in western australia in 1970s