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For those who live in tropical climes, the coconut is a rather ubiquitous sight. The many qualities of this nut are quite well known these days, augmented by the latest findings on the virtues and healing ability of virgin coconut oil.

The origins of the word COCONUT are interesting indeed. The word has its root in the practice of Portuguese parents threatening their children that someone scary (the Bogeyman?) would get them if they failed to behave. They would call this creature coco, which is taken from the Latin word meaning “skull”. The implication, therefore, was that said bogeyman had an ugly and scary mien.

When Portuguese explorers ranged the globe looking for new lands to conquer, they found palm trees in the Pacific islands. There was one variety in particular with large brown nuts about the size of a man’s skull….with markings that gave these nuts the look of the feared coco!  Ergo, they called the nuts of these palm trees coconuts. Coconut: A name that was used for all similar nuts, and which has come down to us in general usage to this day.

sourced by JMJF