| The
Art of Name Changing |
| People have eaten them like candy right out of the box,
have boiled them in water, soaked them in liquor, and cut
them up to put on the top of their oatmeal. |
| They remind people of their grandparents, their aunts and
uncles, and their parents as they got older. They are so close
to medicine that some people consider them an over-the-counter
drug. |
| It's the prune, and its reputation has suffered because
of its association with older people and medicine. (Pretend
I'm whispering this to you: People use them as a laxative.) |
| And that's the reason the national trade group which represents
plum growers petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to
change the name of the prune. |
| The FDA agreed and the lowly, ugly, wrinkled prune will
be no more. Let's all welcome the dried plum |
| I'm sorry, plum growers, but a prune is still a prune is
still a prune. It will always have the same reputation and,
ah, benefits. |
| Some industries just have better sense. Grape growers came
up with raisins, and avoided the prune-inspired name of "Grune."
|
| Maybe that's the reason the famous movie was called "Raisin
in the Sun," rather than, "Prune in the Sun." |
| Other fruits„apricots, apples and cranberries, among a host
of others„have always called the dried variation of their
product simply "dried." |
| Prune juice, however, will still be known and marketed as
"prune juice." I guess "dried plum juice"
doesn't have the same sex appeal, or medical appeal, as prune
juice. |
| We Americans like changing names of things. Most women still
change their last name when they get married. I never could
figure out why. Men don't change their names. |
| The performer known as Prince changed his name to the "Singer
Formerly Known as Prince," and even had a symbol for
his name. He eventually went back to Prince. Don't ask me
in what order all of this occurred. |
| People who live in the 20165 Zip code of Loudoun County
now call their part of the world "Potomac Falls."
What was so wrong with Sterling? Many people retained their
sense and still call it Sterling. |
| Residents in Zip code 20171 now live in Oak Hill, Virginia.
It used to be Herndon, and some people still call it that. |
| There is a resolution pending which will have a public hearing
before the Herndon Planning Commission on March 5 to change
the name of that part of Spring street between Elden and Van
Buren streets to "Old Spring Street." That's to
remind people that the street is old, I imagine. |
| Several folks and a couple of businesses will have to buy
a whole bunch of new letterhead. |
| As long as we seem to be in the mood to change names, why
don't we change the names of things that really need changing. |
| Like tofu. |
| That sounds like something you get stuck between your toes.
But is "soy bean curd" any better? |
| Or how about that favorite New Orleans treat, gumbo? |
| Sounds like an obnoxious CBS morning show host. |
| And what's with the cookie called "Hydrox," the
only competitor of the famous Oreo? |
| Hydrox sounds like something you use in your washing machine
to make your clothes bright white. I certainly hope it doesn't
taste that way. |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
