The medieval fruit with a vulgar name

4 ohjeez 2 8/27/2025, 4:34:31 PM bbc.com ↗

Comments (2)

pavel_lishin · 5h 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.

JohnFen · 2h ago
That didn't save me a click because you didn't actually say what I wanted (and suspect most people want) to know: what fruit are we talking about?

> The polite, socially acceptable name by which it's currently known is the medlar.