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A comment on Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more. Parent comment

Re:Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more by ianburrell on Monday February 10, 2025 @01:16PM (#43003334)
Dictionary says that pumpkin came from French pompon (large melon) and was originally pumpion. English colonists named the orange melon they discovered in New World pumpkin.

Maybe it was joke pronunciation, calling large melon small. It could be a term of endearment for favorite melon. It could be they wanted to distinguish between all large melons and this large melon. Or it could be pronunciation drifting from use.

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Re:Surnames from nicknames nobody has any more by onlypassingthru on Monday February 10, 2025 @02:12PM (#43003995)
... or were early New World squash just of the smaller variety and only recently have we selectively bred them once that Mendel fellow started messing around with his peas?
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