The medieval fruit with a vulgar name

4 ohjeez 1 8/27/2025, 4:34:31 PM bbc.com ↗

Comments (1)

pavel_lishin · 52m ago
To save the curious a click:

> for the best part of 900 years, the fruit was called the "open-arse" – thought to be a reference to the appearance of its own large "calyx" or bottom. The medlar's aliases abroad were hardly more flattering. In France, it was variously known as "la partie postérieure de ce quadrupede" (the posterior part of this quadruped), "cu d'singe" (monkey's bottom), "cu d'ane" (donkey's bottom), and cul de chien (dog's bottom)… you get the idea.