(no subject)

I walked into the library this morning (two hours before we open) and the janitor was there. And she said, "So, you know a lot of weird things, right?"

I am overjoyed that this is my reputation, you guys. It is hilarious. So I said, "Well, I know some weird things, sure."

"My daughter asked me this today and I didn't know the answer, so I thought I'd ask you. Why are the nuts of almond trees called 'almonds' and the nuts of pecan trees are called 'pecans' but the nuts from oak trees are called 'acorns'?"

I did not know this! I made up some theory about oaks being native to England (because we tend to have weirder terminology for bits of things that are natively English) and then looked up the etymology. Turns out, 'acorn' is a word from Old English that used to refer to the nut of any forest tree but eventually was restricted to refer only to oak. 'Almond' comes from Latin by way of French. 'Walnut' literally means 'foreign nut'. And 'pecan' is a New World word for a New World plant. 'Filbert' is another word for hazlenut because the nuts ripen near the feast day of St Philbert.

Isn't that interesting? Go, share it with all your friends.