Sunday Rest: UGLI. Word Not To Use Today.

photo by  Dysmorodrepanis 

I thought that the word ugli, as in ugli fruit would come from some obscure native language where ugli means bountiful harvest, or fruit of the summer, or glory of a bull, or something. But, sadly, no.

I'd even got the name wrong, because it's not ugli, it's UGLI, which is a registered trademark of Cabel Hall Citrus Ltd. The word means, well, ugly, because the skin of the fruit tends to be wrinkled and blotched.

The UGLI fruit, or, to give it its nicer name, the Jamaican tangelo, is a naturally-occurring hybrid of a tangerine or an orange, and a grapefruit. It's usually a greenish-yellow colour, and tastes quite lemony.

The great mystery, of course, is why on earth Cabel Hall Citrus Ltd thought that UGLI was a good name for its product.

It's a lot of the reason why I've never eaten one myself, I can tell you.

Word Not To Use Today: UGLI. The alternative name tangelo is a mash-up of the words tangerine and pomelo, which is another word for the grapefruit. 

The grapefruit hangs on the tree in clusters like grapes, and the tangerine comes from Tangiers. Pomelo probably comes from the Dutch pompelmoes, perhaps from pompoen, big, and the Portuguese limāo, lemon.