Limey is an old slang nickname, often pejorative, for the British, originally referring to their sailors. It has since been used as a derogatory term that relates to English people. The term is believed to derive from Lime (fruit), referring to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice to British sailors to prevent scurvy.[1] The benefits of citrus juice were well known at the time thanks to the acute observations of surgeon James Lind who studied the effects of citrus on scurvy in 1747.[2]
Limes replaced lemons because limes were more readily available from Britain's own Caribbean colonies. Lemon juice was reintroduced after scurvy again became a problem because of lime juice lacking sufficient vitamin C.
The term is thought[who?] to have originated in the Caribbean in the 1870s. A false etymology is that it is a derivative of "Cor-blimey" ("God blind me!" or "God blight me!").[citation needed]
[edit] See also
- ^ "Definition of Limey from Oxford Dictionaries". http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/Limey. Retrieved 2011-07-06.
- ^ Carlisle, Rodney (2004). Scientific American Inventions and Discoveries, p.393. John Wiley & Songs, Inc., New Jersey. ISBN 0471244104.
[edit] See also
