Tuesday, May 18, 2004
On radishes
Your nephew's question is perfectly understandable. Someone unfamiliar with all the idiosyncrasies of our language would naturally assume that horseradish comes from a horse. After all, peanut butter comes from peanuts and orange juice comes from oranges. Most grownups know, of course, that the "horse'' in "horseradish'' doesn't denote the condiment's origin, but they may not know where the term comes from.
You might tell your nephew that although horseradish doesn't come from a horse, the horse does figure prominently in its name. The horse is a large, not especially delicate animal. As a result, one sense of the adjective "horse'' is "large or coarse of its kind.'' The condiment we call "horseradish'' comes from the pungent root of a tall, coarse, white-flowered herb of the mustard family known scientifically as "Armoracia lapathifolia'' and more familiarly as "horseradish.'' Horseradish isn't the only plant designated "horse'' because of its coarse quality. Others include "horsebean,'' "horse cucumber,'' and "horse mushroom.''
JWR's always good in a pinch.
You might tell your nephew that although horseradish doesn't come from a horse, the horse does figure prominently in its name. The horse is a large, not especially delicate animal. As a result, one sense of the adjective "horse'' is "large or coarse of its kind.'' The condiment we call "horseradish'' comes from the pungent root of a tall, coarse, white-flowered herb of the mustard family known scientifically as "Armoracia lapathifolia'' and more familiarly as "horseradish.'' Horseradish isn't the only plant designated "horse'' because of its coarse quality. Others include "horsebean,'' "horse cucumber,'' and "horse mushroom.''
JWR's always good in a pinch.
