# Why are there words for raisins and prunes... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 9, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792 "2005-12-09T00:14:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/1 "2005-12-09T00:14:27Z")
…but not for sun-dried tomatoes? Or is there one and I just don’t know it? ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/2 "2005-12-09T00:24:19Z")
There’s no single word for a dried apricot, peach or apple either. My WAG is that plums and grapes have been dried and sold for a lot longer than any other kind of fruit or vegtable. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/3 "2005-12-09T00:42:03Z")
I don’t know if it’s of any help, but both “raisin” and “prune” are the french words for the non-dried fruit. Complete guess : both were originally imported dried from France? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/4 "2005-12-09T09:37:55Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I don’t know if it’s of any help, but both “raisin” and “prune” are the French words for the non-dried fruit. > Complete guess : both were originally imported dried from France? Aren’t all the table words for meat also from the French? Cow/Beef Baby cow/Veal Pig/Pork ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/5 "2005-12-09T11:51:38Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Aren’t all the table words for meat also from the French? > Cow/Beef > Baby cow/Veal > Pig/Pork Not all, of course, by a long shot. And in this particular case, the name of the fruits are different, but the english name of the dried fruits are the french name of the fresh fruits. It might by completely by chance. Or maybe not. For instance, I don’t know if plum trees grow easily is the UK, but there are many of them in south-western France (actually, this area is particularily famous for prunes, rather than plums, though I don’t know if it was true in the past), along with a lot of grapes, there was an intense trade between with region and England during the middle ages (Since Guyenne was a fief of the king of England), and its during this period too that french vocabulary made its way into english. It might also be that dried fruits were a delicacy more likely to be found in England on the table of the french-speaking nobility than on the table of the english speaking peasantry. It’s still a wild guess, though… ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/6 "2005-12-09T11:55:26Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Not all, of course, by a long shot. For some reason, I read “table words for food” instead of “table words for meat”. You can add sheep/mutton to your list, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/7 "2005-12-09T13:13:11Z")
And don’t forget the Britishism **Sultanas** for what we americans call **Golden Raisins**. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/8 "2005-12-09T14:17:08Z")
In the USA, prunes aren’t prunes anymore. The correct name, FDA inspired?, is dried plums! Maybe folks didn’t know where prunes come from? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/9 "2005-12-09T14:26:56Z")
> [@](#): > > In the USA, prunes aren’t prunes anymore. The correct name, FDA inspired?, is dried plums! > > Maybe folks didn’t know where prunes come from? There’s a hilarious account of the changing of the name from “prunes” to “dried plums” in Dave Barry’s book **Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway**. Apparently you can’t just call prunes “dried plums” because, yes, the U.S. Government was afraid people would be confused. (Marketers apparently wanted to change the name. I suspect to get away from associations with old people and “regularity” issues.) ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/10 "2005-12-09T15:18:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There’s a hilarious account of the changing of the name from “prunes” to “dried plums” in Dave Barry’s book **Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway**. Apparently you can’t just call prunes “dried plums” because, yes, the U.S. Government was afraid people would be confused. (Marketers apparently wanted to change the name. I suspect to get away from associations with old people and “regularity” issues.) I never looked, but I guess there’s now “dried plum juice”. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/11 "2005-12-09T19:48:53Z")
I’ve heard the term _craisins_ for dried cranberries. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/12 "2005-12-09T19:50:11Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > In the USA, prunes aren’t prunes anymore. The correct name, FDA inspired?, is dried plums! > > Maybe folks didn’t know where prunes come from? :smack: Or maybe “dried plums” trips off an aging Baby Boomer’s tongue ever so much more easily than “prunes”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/13 "2005-12-09T20:46:56Z")
I believe **craisins** is in fact a trademark of Ocean Spray. ---
**Author:** ![LiveOnAPlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@LiveOnAPlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LiveOnAPlane)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/14 "2005-12-10T01:02:55Z")
What, has no one here ever heard of a raisin bush or a prune tree? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/15 "2005-12-10T01:15:03Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > I don’t know if plum trees grow easily is the UK They grow very well and crop heavily, however, we don’t really have a climate suited to sun-drying the ripe fruits (you might just about get away with it on some of the earlier plum varieties, in a good year). My WAG for the name differences is that Prunes and raisins are quite significantly different in colour, flavour and texture from their fresh counterparts the plum and the grape; dries apples, pears, apricots etc retain (IMO) more of the characteristics of the fresh item. - This holds true even after the dried fruits have been reconstituted by soaking in water or syrup. I realise this is a bit subjective, but prunes and raisins will not taste again very much like plums and grapes no matter what you do. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/16 "2005-12-10T01:18:45Z")
> [@LiveOnAPlane](#): > > What, has no one here ever heard of a raisin bush or a prune tree? 😉 I’ve heard of a raisin bush, but it’s a completely different plant (actually, there are several different plants/trees that are thus named) and has nothing to do with actual raisins ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/17 "2005-12-10T01:48:02Z")
> [@GaryM](#): > > In the USA, prunes aren’t prunes anymore. The correct name, FDA inspired?, is dried plums! The FDA has to be PC at all costs! :rolleyes: A rose by any other name would smell … like a rose. ---
**Author:** ![Jake4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bc8723/32.png) [@Jake4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake4)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/18 "2005-12-10T21:57:34Z")
So, by the studiousness with which everyone is avoiding my OP, can I assume that there is no special word for a sun-dried tomato? If you’d like to keep playing, how about answering this: other than prunes and ©raisins, are there any other special names for dried fruit? ---
**Author:** ![Amaranta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Amaranta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amaranta)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/19 "2005-12-10T23:23:13Z")
> [@Jake4](#): > > So, by the studiousness with which everyone is avoiding my OP, can I assume that there is no special word for a sun-dried tomato? Not in English, as far as I know. But in Italian, regular tomatoes are _pomodoro_, while sundried tomatoes are _pumate_. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792/20 "2005-12-10T23:41:11Z")
I’ve heard the phrase pomodoro secchio (sic?) in Italian. Pumate is obviously more concise, in addition to answering the OP. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-there-words-for-raisins-and-prunes/334792.md?page=2)