英语词汇potato的起源、历史背景-英语词源词典

potato. The white potato is one of the most important vegeta- bles in the world, yet it bears the wrong name. Potato derives from the Haitian word batata, for “sweet potato,” which the Spanish found in the West Indies in 1526 and introduced to Eu- rope. Batata was corrupted to patata in Spanish, and this al- tered to potato when first used in England. But then the Span- iards discovered the Peruvian white potato, an unrelated plant, and mistook it for just another variety of the West Indian plant. Ignoring the native name for the white potato, papas, they gave it the same name as the earlier tuber, and so it too became known as the potato in England. The only distinction between the two unrelated vegetables was that one came to be called the sweet potato and the other the Virginia or white potato. The white potato is called “apple of the earth,” pomme de terre in French, and “earth-apple,” Erdapfel in German. It acquired the name Irish potato when it was first brought to this country in 1719 by a group of Irish Presbyterians and planted in London- derry, New Hampshire. The colloquial American name spud for it derives from the spade-like tool used in digging potatoes. The humorous Murphy derives from the wide consumption of potatoes in Ireland—where there are of course many Murphys—at a time when other European countries rarely used the tuber for anything but fodder.

词汇	potato
词源	potato. The white potato is one of the most important vegeta- bles in the world, yet it bears the wrong name. Potato derives from the Haitian word batata, for “sweet potato,” which the Spanish found in the West Indies in 1526 and introduced to Eu- rope. Batata was corrupted to patata in Spanish, and this al- tered to potato when first used in England. But then the Span- iards discovered the Peruvian white potato, an unrelated plant, and mistook it for just another variety of the West Indian plant. Ignoring the native name for the white potato, papas, they gave it the same name as the earlier tuber, and so it too became known as the potato in England. The only distinction between the two unrelated vegetables was that one came to be called the sweet potato and the other the Virginia or white potato. The white potato is called “apple of the earth,” pomme de terre in French, and “earth-apple,” Erdapfel in German. It acquired the name Irish potato when it was first brought to this country in 1719 by a group of Irish Presbyterians and planted in London- derry, New Hampshire. The colloquial American name spud for it derives from the spade-like tool used in digging potatoes. The humorous Murphy derives from the wide consumption of potatoes in Ireland—where there are of course many Murphys—at a time when other European countries rarely used the tuber for anything but fodder.
随便看	crash crassus crate crater cravat crawler crayfish crazy as a bedbug crazy as a coot crazy as a loon crazy as a shitepoke crazy as a shithouse rat crazy bone crazy like a fox creasing credenza credibility gap credit creepmouse cremains creosote crescent city cress crestfallen cretan