Have you ever wondered why eggplants are called eggplants, or why they tell you to break a leg when you’re interviewing for an important job? We take those things for granted and never stop to think about the origin of such phrases, but it turns out there was a lot of thought put into them. There’s a recent trend on Twitter where people share the most random things they’ve found out when they were “today years old” – that is, too late – and some of these revelations are guaranteed to surprise you.
Eggplants
Eggplants are sometimes called aubergines, but have you ever stopped to wonder why they’re called “eggplants,” when they look nothing like eggs? If you’re growing them in your backyard, you must know the answer, but this Twitter user only recently learned the source of this seemingly random name.
Apparently, when it’s still growing, the purple fruit looks like an egg – it is small, oval and white; it makes perfect sense now that they should be called “egg-plant.” Who knew you could learn so much from Twitter? While most of us are familiar with the purple eggplant, it turns out they come in many colors, from purple to green, white and even purple with white stripes.