The Straight Dope 11/24/2006

The Straight Dope -- By Cecil  Adams
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THE  STRAIGHT DOPE 11/24/2006

Dear Cecil:

Where did the idea come from  that the forbidden fruit in the
Garden of Eden was an apple? Genesis just  says "fruit." Does
Jewish tradition have it as an apple, or is it strictly  a
Christian thing? Come to think of it, the fruit of discord
of the Greek  goddess Eris was also an apple. Why are apples
considered to be the  troublemakers of the produce world?  
Sluggo, via  e-mail

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Cecil  replies:

The apple's many admirers like to portray it as a symbol  of
wholesomeness   apple cheeks, an apple for teacher, and  so
forth. Don't be deceived. This is a fruit with a history.

Let's  review the story. Genesis depicts Adam and Eve leading
the plush life in  Eden. They may eat fruit from any tree
except one, "the tree of the knowledge  of good and evil."
Unsurprisingly, they eat the forbidden fruit and  are
expelled from paradise. As you suggest, the original Hebrew
says only  "fruit," but in latter-day Western art ranging
from serious religious  painting to about a million cartoons,
the item in question is invariably  depicted as an apple.

But it wasn't always. Early rabbis suggested the fruit was:

For more, see:
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/061124.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #1 - 08/04/1989

Dear Cecil:

Why is the room  where TV talk-show guests wait before going
on the air always called the  "green room"? I've never seen
one that was green. --Zsa Zsa, Los  Angeles  
 
Dear Zsa Zsa: 

Yeah, and for good reason--greenish hues tend to make the
inhabitants  look like they just died of gangrene. Legend has
it that the green room, also  styled greenroom or green-room,
goes back to the Elizabethan era, when the  actors lolled
away the time between entrances on the lawn behind  the
theater, or "on the green." 
 
Alas, like so much else in show biz, this appears to be a crock
According to my Oxford English Dictionary . . .

For more, see: 
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_262a.html

STRAIGHT DOPE CLASSIC #2 - 11/03/1989

Dear Cecil: 

Where does the  expression "mind your P's and Q's" come from?
Does it mean politeness and  quietness? Also, I recently came
across the phrase "a labor organizer  traveling on the q.t."
What does q.t. stand for? --Kimberly T., New York  City  
 
Dear Kimberly:  
 
As usual, we've got theories by the yard, facts
by the angstrom. The  more fanciful explanations for "mind
your p's and q's" include:  It  originated in British pubs as
an abbreviation for "mind your pints and  quarts." Supposedly
this warned the barkeep to serve full measure, mark  the
customer's tab accurately, etc.  

For more,  see:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_264.html

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