rzen
12b3505c55
864 finds + 64 reviews assigned 1-3 topics each from the new 18-topic controlled vocabulary (src/lib/topics.ts, lands in the next site commit). The retired gifts topic becomes a giftable tag on the 140 finds that carried it; 5 finds legitimately match no topic. Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_01WZaczDJjL3xZ3u5spsN5AL
14 lines
891 B
Plaintext
14 lines
891 B
Plaintext
---
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name: "Cucumbers Were Once Called 'Cowcumbers'"
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subtitle: "An archaic English name for cucumbers, still used in some 18th-century texts"
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date: 2026-05-20
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link: https://historyfacts.com/world-history/fact/cucumbers-used-to-be-called-cowcumbers/
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linkText: "historyfacts.com"
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source: "Kottke.org"
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topics: [words-and-humor, history-and-archives]
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tags: [language, etymology, history]
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description: "'Cowcumber' was the standard English pronunciation of 'cucumber' through the 18th century — a folk etymology that lasted long enough to outlive most native English vegetable names."
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---
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"Cowcumber" was the standard English pronunciation of "cucumber" through the 18th century, retained in lower-class speech into the 19th. The folk etymology comes from a misreading of the Latin *cucumis* mixed with the assumption that the long fruit must be related to cattle somehow. Surfaced via Kottke.
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