Love Avocado? Maybe Not After Hearing What Its Origins Allegedly Are…
Published in
Jan 17, 2024
Just like I’ve never thought to wash an avocado before eating, I’ve never considered its roots; the origin of the word. Idle internet scrolling tweaked my curiosity when a random Facebook post suggested the word meant testicles.
What the heck? I had to investigate further!
Blame the Aztecs; they came up with the word āhuacatl to describe the fruit. The literal translation today is ‘testicle.’ ¹
I’m not an expert on the male appendage, but I guess the shape and overall structure of the fruit swayed their thinking.
However, before you get grossed out or overly excited, it’s been debunked as more of a euphemism.
Balderdash or lost in translation?
I’ll let you contemplate the next time you slice into avocado flesh and remove that large seed…
