2575: spanspek Jan 1, 2022

Among the various words for cantaloupe melons, there is 'rockmelon' in New Zealand, 'sweet melon', and in South African 'spanspek'. This word has been subject to some folk etymology, with the story being that it is from the Afrikaans 'spaanse spek' (Spanish bacon) since an early governor of the Cape Colony had bacon with his breakfast and his Spanish wife had melon. This word predated the governor Sir Harry Smith by some time and was originally from another colony: Suriname. There, it was named due to its thick skin and its connection to the Spanish is not from one governess.

2575: cantaloupe Dec 31, 2021

It is normal for things to be named from where they are from, but this is more complicated in the case of the cantaloupe. Cantaloupe melons, which are the same species as honeydew melons, are from the somewhere between South Asia and Africa, but are named for a place in Italy near Rome. Cantalupo is actually the name of a former Papal summer estate, and while it is not where they were first grown, this is where they were first grown when brought to Europe.

2574: honeydew Dec 30, 2021

Though the name 'honeydew' applies to a melon, the term in its generic form is more literal description of an insect-secretion deposited on plants, which is sweet and sticky. This term is due to the supposed dew being believed to have fallen from the sky, and even being likened the Biblical manna or otherwise ambrosia. This was then associated with the flesh of the melon.