20 October 2008

Where do Potatoes come from?

Makes a little bit more sense now, why Dutch word for potato can be pataat!

According to Etymologically Speaking, a delightful website dedicated to word origins, the original name of the potato was derived from the Incan word bappa or papa (since it was native to South America).

The writer explains how the English word for potato evolved though time with Spanish input (adding the -ta) whereas the German, French, etc words came through the meandering path of the Vatican - a funny tale involving the Pope's botanist and his choice of words.

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