As no one else has come up with one and I have just run across the unusual origin of this by accident, I thought I'd post a new game in the hope that I'll have enough computer access next week in England to continue it.

So - etymologies for AVOCADO by PM please.

Mine is in.

As is mine. But then everybody knows that "avocado" means "lawyer" in Spanish, because it looks like a cojone, and it takes big ones to be a Spanish lawyer.

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But then everybody knows that "avocado" means "lawyer" in Spanish, because it looks like a cojone, and it takes big ones to be a Spanish lawyer

You're supposed to send them in by PM!

Don't let that put other people off though. This time I'll award additional points for creativity.

Mine, too, is in, though sans creativity.

i wssn't going to enter this since I thought the correct def was "inadvertently" submitted. However, I've since learned that the Spanish word for "lawyer" is "abogado". Now if I'm ever sued in Spain, I won't look for an attorney in a fruitstand.

Sorry if my post mislead anyone. Although maybe the derivation Geoff posted is the right one. Who knows? (Apart from Bob, anyway.)

Good grief! I thought it was obvious that I was being facetious!

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I thought it was obvious that I was being facetious!

it only works if the person knows the language. No hablan Espanol.

quote:

Originally posted by Proofreader:

it only works if the person knows the language. No hablan Espanol.

Oh, sorry, PR. I assumed that you knew how to say, "I want to see my lawyer"in as many languages as I do!

No, I just head for the nearest consulate and yell "Sanctuary!"

>bump<

Aye, bethree, I'd like to see some activity here too! Gotta do something to annoy arnie, after all!

I guess Bob is in England, and that is what is holding this game up. It held the limerick game up as well, though we took the bull by the horns and Richard started a new game. Bob should be back soon, I think. There must be a computer or two in England, right arnie?

One or two, yes.

Bob's plan was to bum off friends when he got back. Maybe he's ended up sleeping on the streets.

OK.
Might be a while before I can get back to you with the answer (see separate post) but here are the proposed etymologies that I have.

1. From the Spanish avocado, "lawyer". So-named because it was thought that eating the fruit made any falsehoods spoken more likely to be believed.
2. From Spanish, "speaking fruit," from the belief that avocados would cause one to not tell lies.
3. From the Nahuatl for "falling water"
4. Originally from “aguacate”, from Nahuatl ahuakatl "testicle." So called for its shape.
5. Spanish colonizers dubbed this native Mexican fruit, so heavy it seemed to fall from its tree upon request, 'avocado' (called for, summoned).
6. Queen Isabella was fabled to have pronounced 'each a perfect oval' when presented with this New World fruit, paraphrased as 'avocado', from 16th c. Castillian.
7. Avocado - From L. vocalis, meaning without voice because it self-pollinates in isolation by itself.

I have no idea. I'll select #4.

#7

Now I can see why arnie was angry. I'll abstain and go self-flagellate.

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Now I can see why arnie was angry. I'll abstain and go self-flagellate

I wasn't really angry, but it's not impossible to hit a right answer by accident. That's why we should wait for the suggested etymologies to be posted before saying anything that could be construed as an answer.

There's no need for you to abstain, Geoff, but the self-flagellation is up to you.

I'll go for 4.

#3

Number four.

WTGEE?*

*Will This Game Ever End?

I hear you, Proof. We're all on pins and needles, Bob!

I am currently 5936.05 miles away from my apartment and my computer, relying on the kindness of friends to get computer access.

Cut me a little slack on the timings please.

The correct answer is, as you might suspect from arnie and zm's choices, number 4.

Others can out themselves as the proposers of other etymologies or wait for me to get the chance to do it later. (It may be much later.)

This message has been edited. Last edited by: BobHale,

My suggestion was No1, which fooled no-one. I can't remember now, but the true etymology might have been mentioned in QI; it certainly seemed familiar. As Stephen Fry has mentioned, QI does seem to rely on a lot of jokes regarding the lower parts of the body, so it would fit right in.

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Cut me a little slack on the timings please.

Bob, we were just kidding. Sorry if we seemed pushy.

From my perspective, #4 was a guess. I think z and arnie just tagged along with me because they know my linguistic knowledge.

Apparently BobHale has less access to technology now that he's back in civilization than he did while in the Chinese hinterlands.