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by Barcaluv on August 7th, 2007

Barcaluv

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Why is the term "lemon" often used when talking about something that is defective or has poor quality (mainly a car)?

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  • by unknown on August 7th, 2007

    unknown

    Great question.
    lemon "worthless thing," 1909, Amer.Eng. slang; from lemon (1), perhaps via criminal slang sense of "a person who is a loser, a simpleton," which is perhaps from the notion of someone a sharper can "suck the juice out of." A pool hall hustle was called a lemon game (1908); while to hand someone a lemon was British slang (1906) for "to pass off a sub-standard article as a good one." Or it simply may be a metaphor for something which "leaves a bad taste in one's mouth."
    http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=lemon&searchmode=none

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