The plants in the photo above are used to produce what in the US (and perhaps elsewhere) is called canola oil. In the UK, these plants are called rapeseed and are used to produce rapeseed oil. Canola oil is rapeseed oil.
Now, my knowledge of Latin roots has gone a bit rusty, but I have always been more than a little alarmed by the use of ‘rapeseed’ as a word. Its spelling and pronunciation have positively frightening connotations.
Can anyone please explain, or at least offer, a less concerning etymology for the name of this pugent, hay fever inducing yellow flower?
nāpus is Latin for turnip (as rape has long wide roots similar to a turnip.. 2000 yrs later nāpus changed to rape).
Rapen is Latin to carry or take by force. Again eventually changed to rape in English.
As an English person I have to say have never really worried about this as it’s always been there (and I grew up in the country!) but I can see it might be weird for foreigners!
I recall reading something about this not too long ago. Here in the States there were marketing reasons to change rapeseed to canola after rapeseed oil became a commodity in our local grocers.
Marketers felt the rapeseed name was an impediment to sales and moved to canola. I cannot remember if the article discussed why canola itself was used, but the change was purely a marketing effort.
I haven’t been able to locate the article… sorry.
Ps.. In a similar vein, fanny means something very different over here! (my mum was shocked when asked in an excesize class to “clench her fanny”!)
Pants are another good one..
A more recent change in America is from corn syrup to corn sugar. Apparently the term “corn syrup” has been getting a bad rap and so now the American Food and Drug Administration has changed it to “corn sugar”. Doesn’t matter to me; both are just another term for poison.
The FDA. America’s leading marketing firm. I wish they would stop changing the names of crap food products to confuse people into buying them and actually start banning some of this crap. Oh! and apparently (according to the FDA) MSG is a natural flavoring now.
Yay! We are all going to die. 😀
V intereting article on MSG.. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2005/jul/10/foodanddrink.features3