Button Button Button Button

I picked up a pack of those fruits in the supermarket. The package said “nêspera,” and they tasted a bit like apricots. I later googled for them and discovered that it’s called “loquat” in English. I've been also told that they used to be called “ameixa” in Portugues until recently. “Ameixa” really means “plum,” but I am told they didn’t have real plums in Brazil then. When “real” plums arrived the ameixas became “nêsperas.” Apparently, they are still referred to as “ameixa japonesa” occasionally. Note that this is the same “division of linguistic labor” as with “sugar-apples” – the “real” plum arrives and suddenly ameixas can’t be called ameixas any more. There is actually a similar thing in Russia with a type of pine. This pine is commonly referred to as “kedr” (which really means “cedar”), even though it doesn’t even remotely look like one. The Russian botany textbooks try to teach the kids that the tree that everyone calls a “kedr” is really a “sosna,” but it’s all in vain. Unlike with the “ameixa” in Brazil, however, they haven’t gotten around to actually bringing the cedars to Russia, so the tree gets to keep its name for now.