It's been 30 years and I still can't get over the fact that the French word for "potatoes" is "ground apples." Have The French never had an apple?

In a lot of languages the word for apple used to refer to all kinds of fruits, particularly new ones from more or less exotic lands. Pineapples also don't look much like apples, do they?

Why is this weird? "Apple" used to be the generic word for fruit in many different languages, it wasn't until recently that it took on the meaning of a specific type of fruit. I don't think calling potatoes "fruit of the earth" is at all strange. The English equivalent to this is the word "pineapple" -- a fruit that kind of looks like a pine cone.

if you think ground apples isn't an apt description, you've never eaten potatoes raw.

Counter point:

isn't apple used in many languages as a generic term for fruit?... it's not like pineapple has anything to do with apples either.

American: "Have french people never eaten a good apple?"

Frenchman: "Have Americans never enjoyed a tasty potato?"

Recently I watched an press event with a Canadian politician, who was switching between French and English as we must sometimes. He was talking about a bag of apples (which his colleague was holding) costing a stupid amount of money. He made the mistake of saying a bag of potatoes, which i found fucking hilarious as I speak both languages and understand the mistake. Unfortunately for him, the people criticising him were morons and were like WHY WOULD HE SAY POTATOES IS HE STUPID.

"apple" used to be a generic term for fruit. So it's actually "fruit of the earth", the French are poetic like that

The English for "ananas" is "pineapple", did the English really think they grew on pine trees?

Look, we're talking people who call ninety-nine “four twenty ten nine”; you can't expect them to name things properly.

In Germany they are called Kartoffeln (which is also a slur for the Germans itself).
But potatoes are also called Erdäpfel (ground apples) or in southern dialect Krombire (bent pear).
More variants here:
Source (German): https://die-kartoffel.de/wissen/schon-gewusst/kartoffel-deutsche-dialekte/

Have a look at how some early apple varieties looked like, before they were cultivated:

https://birdsongorchards.com/pages/welcome-to-wondrous-diversity-of-heirloom-apples

Let the language which is without sin cast the first stone.

Some German speakers say "Erdapfel" which is literally "earth apple."

I grew up on a farm along a small river called the Pomme De Terre and we didn't grow potatoes. But we did have a potato lifter to harvest the 1/2 acre or so we would grow for our own consumption.

There was also a small county picnic area in the middle of nowhere by the same name. And no one knew why it was there.

There was a time when "pomme" was used to name any fruit.

Not just French

Meanwhile in Quebec, they call them patates

And orange is a Chinese apple

Grosse Pomme is New York

good tasting apples are a relatively recent thing. They are one of the fruits where a good tasting one is rare and then has to propagated with grafts. Apples that grow from seed are not that great and before a certain point was mainly turned into cider and vinegar and such.

I thought it was more "apples of the Earth", n'est-ce pas?

Have you ever bitten into a road apple?

People come up with funny names for things sometimes.

I think "ground apples" would better apply to jicama.

Dug up from the ground, somewhat sweet, can be eaten raw or cooked, apple-like in texture...

We also have a potato-like : word "patate". "Pomme de terre" is déformation of "parmetière" from the name of M.Parmentier who introduce potatoes to the french population.

Wait until you hear about pomegranates.

Well Italians call tomatoes golden apples

Actually sounds like you've never had a fresh potato, pulled right out of the ground and eaten on the spot

They do make an apple sound when you crunch or slice them so i can see the link

Herdöpfel (stove/cooking apple) in Swiss german. Kartoffel in germany. Guess there's some variety, since it's a relatively new crop.

eighty potatoes ..... french translation -> ... "quatre-vingts pommes de terre" (four twenties of earth apples)

Well now "freedom fries" makes more sense. You know, like how apple pie is assosiated with the usa? So now it's freedom fries......anyone remember freedom fries?

......ok, no. It was always just stupid.

How to the French tell the difference between fried apples and fried potatoes?

Maybe context.

I've been telling you for 30 years to get over it, maybe in 31 years 😢

Have you ever had an apple of the sort they had when the word got its meaning?
They were closer to potatoes than you think.

Well apple is succulent stem of apple tree. Potato is succulent root of potato plant. Root is stem inside ground. Q.E.D.

Smell is actually a big component of taste. Everything in france smells like armpits and moldy cheese, and there is dogshit literally everywhere that no one cleans up. So potatos and apples-- even snails-- taste the same to them-- just like a mix of armpits, moldy cheese, and old dogshit.

They are also all very tired and lethargic because their coffees are served in very very small cups, like at a little girls tea party.

Everyone smokes there too, even the children, so everyone also has cigrarette ashy-mouth 24/7.

It also explains why they think their food is the best in the world when its actually just barely passable. They cant taste it. French cuisine is essentially what you would eat if you couldnt taste or smell anything. So you end up eating organ meat that no one else wants, Animal hooves, bugs, rotten food. Roadkill. Old fish. You name it, they will eat it. They will striaght up boil an unprepared calfs head in water fand then take it out and call it a delicacy. (Tête de veau). Its still got hair on it!

/s

And tomatoes are "love apples"

I think this came from the fact that if you bit into an apple and a raw potato while holding your nose, they'd have the same exact taste and texture