Talk:Kaffir lime

Origin of name

"Kaffir" translates to "infidel" in Arabic (according to Wikipedia) or is an Ethnic slur for blacks. "Kaffir" is an offensive term as it is used in South Africa, analogous to "nigger." A more correct, and inoffensive, term is "makrut lime."

See the Penguin Companion to Food for more information on this topic.

Etkrist 00:30, 21 April 2007 (UTC)etkrist

Hi, it is ok for you to say the name is inoffensive but as a regular visitor in South Africa I learnt pretty quickly that its meaning refers not to colour of skin but to a poor, destitute and usually black person. It could be regarded as highly insensitive to say others take no offense at this term.138.194.244.93 04:24, 28 March 2007 (UTC)

There is a memoir called Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane about growing up in apartheid-era South Africa, which points out that "kaffir" is a slur against blacks, particularly South African blacks. 69.203.151.200 05:27, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

It wasn't originally a slur term. It was the general word for Blacks in South Africa. --41.242.207.217 (talk) 17:38, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Two points: 1) can somebody with access to a historical dictionary, e.g. the Oxford, look up the orgins of the name, if it is from the South African English kaffir, then yes the name is of a level of nigger or fag, however as the fruit is from the Indo-Malay region it is possibly from the Arabic kafir, with a corrupted spelling. Either way I would strongly like to see it placed under the title Citrus hystrix; 2) 41.242.207.217, thank you for the history, may I remind you that nigger was a word in polite use, as were many of the racist epithets in history.Brunswicknic (talk) 14:01, 18 September 2012 (UTC)

Picture of the leaves

A picture of the leaves would be great. --Apoc2400 11:36, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

The Fruit

I don't know who wrote that the fruit are inedible, but they're not. They're just like limes - I bought a bunch of kaffir limes and drank the juice once. They do taste a little different from the persian limes we see at the supermarket but they're not "inedible"

Great in beer! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 157.182.25.160 (talk) 14:09, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

Taste

The article could use objective commentary on the taste of the fruit. "How does it compare to a common lime?", etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.50.226.206 (talk) 19:42, 4 August 2008 (UTC) It may be that when grown in different soils or climates the taste of the fruit is very sour. There are many references on the internet stating the fruit is so sour that it is inedible. In my experience the fruit tastes similar to other lime species and I enjoy it very much. I have also read that it has only a small amount of juice and many seeds. I have also found this to be untrue apart from it's bumpy appearance and strong fragrance it is pretty much the same as any other lime.

Fragrance

used in body deodorants and at least 9 perfumes/colognes by Giorgio Armani, Clinique, Escada, Elizabeth Arden, etc.

the uses

The kaffir lime (juice) is also used to treat dandruff..... 124.13.195.252 (talk) 12:56, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

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Hokkien name

Possibly 泰國柑 (POJ: Thai3-kok-kam).

Factually questionable and widely offensive etymology

To the South African ear the theory that the word "Kaffir" in the name of the fruit stems from German sounds ridiculous and it should be removed if no substantial citation can be found. For one thing, in German "Käfer" means "beetle", not "bug". The following citation from the Oxford Companion to Food is far nearer the mark, though the connotation of "infidel" is not significant in South African usage, either now, or in the last century or so.--198.54.202.114 (talk) 16:57, 19 May 2010 (UTC)

A friend of mine visited South Africa within the last decade and "kaffir" was still a racial slur. I'm not sure what kind of evidence Wikipedia demands for this, though... -- Phyzome is Tim McCormack 17:52, 1 July 2014 (UTC)

my local asian store not allowed to sell lime leaves?

I went to my local asian market in Olathe, KS and wanted to buy lime leaves. I was informed that the store was not allowed to sell them, but that they are available a few miles away in Missouri. Any idea why they cannot be sold in Kansas? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.23.240.189 (talk) 02:51, 3 November 2010 (UTC)

Combava

Combava are apparantly a hyrid- mention worthy?andycjp (talk) 04:34, 9 December 2010 (UTC)

Quarantine

The interim quarantine information was marginal at best, since it affected all citrus, but only a small part of the world. It's now 2 years old, so I think it has reached its use-by date. I've removed it. Groogle (talk) 07:37, 30 July 2012 (UTC)

revert move request

Note: The page was previously unilaterally moved by User:Martin Wisse from Kaffir lime to Makrut lime. I have reverted the move per WP:BRD, but this discussion was started before my reversion. At any rate, discussion regarding the name is still warranted. --Paul_012 (talk) 17:12, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

Makrut lime → Kaffir Lime – page moved controversially to unreferenced alternative name without discussion 124.149.187.125 (talk) 11:56, 4 July 2014 (UTC) It seems to be that the name comes from an ethnic group in sri Lanka, for whom kaffir is not a slur, and that this usage is independent of the ethnic slur see http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/07/03/kaffir_lime_racist_murky_origins_suggest_a_racial_slur_might_be_responsible.html

I'm not saying it shouldn't be discussed but the move was too hasty. 124.149.187.125 (talk) 11:47, 4 July 2014 (UTC)

• Strongly Agree [with retaining Kaffir lime - Paul_012 (talk)] While well-intentioned, this rename is itself offensive because it constitutes erasure of identity of the Kaffir people of Sri Lanka. If "Kaffir" were just an unrelated non-offensive word then I would have no problem changing it to avoid offense, but as it is the actual name of a people it seems incredibly disrespectful to decide to change it.67.183.201.167 (talk) 15:49, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
• Oppose "Makrut lime". Even if Kaffir lime is found to be undesirable as a title, the binomial Citrus hystrix would be preferable to Makrut, since the latter fails WP:USEENGLISH. (I'm also noting that it should be Makrut, not Makrut lime. --Paul_012 (talk) 17:23, 4 July 2014 (UTC)
• Comnment: Kaffir lime is of course undesirable considering what it means in South African English, but if Makrut is undesirable as well, I have no problems with moving it to the binomial. --Martin Wisse (talk) 18:58, 4 July 2014 (UTC)