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nafex - Re: [NAFEX] prune definition

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  • From: "Mark Angermayer" <hangermayer@isp.com>
  • To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] prune definition
  • Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2008 12:53:16 -0500

Maybe some of the confusion on plum/prune definition could be explained by a comment from Bob Andersen, retired stone fruit breeder out of Cornell.  Perhaps the terminology is changing (at least in the east) to remove the term "prune" applied to fresh market plums.  The comment was written several years ago. 
 
Of course it's pointless to be dogmatic on definitions.  Ultimately a word is defined (or redefined) by consensus of the speaker and the hearer.  For instance, it seems silly that an Englishman would use the term "a flat battery" (tires go flat, not batteries).  But if I'm talking to a Brit, and he mentions his battery is flat, I know he's trying to tell me he has a dead battery, and probably needs a jump.  He defines the word differently than I, and that's OK.
 
 
Bob Andersen:
"It used to be that [eastern] USA fruit growers called European-type plums prunes even if the fruit was sold fresh and not dried.   Now most plum marketers strongly believe that the word prune has negative connotations to most consumers.  They have done market research that reveals that “prune” is associated with old, and we all know old is bad (tongue in cheek)."
 
Reference:
 
Mark
KS



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