I remember seeing these in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia and they had a different name back then which is kind of derogatory now. If I remember correctly the outer skin is fairly hard and not like a normal orange. The farmers used them as bait traps to catch the baboons.
haha, a fruit by any other name would taste just as sweet 🤣
I hear you, and I know exactly what you mean re the name. So many tree names have been changed for that reason - even the Afrikaans name of the praying mantis has been changed
Crazy as what is wrong with Praying Mantis. This orange fruit the farmers used to drill a hole just big enough for a monkeys hand to reach in and gran the fruit. The problem is the monkey wont let go and now his hand is stuck waiting for the farmer to come and grab him.
The Afrikaans name used to be 'hotnotsgod' which was deemed derogatory. "Hotnot' was a term used back then for the bushmen or San people.
It is quite interesting if you look into it. I found this little section on the praying mantis while I was looking it up - thought I'd share :D
"One of their Afrikaans names is Hotnotsgod – because Europeans used to believe that the Bushmen, or San, worshipped them. The San name for it is Kaggen, or Cagn, which is where the confusion crept in – Kaggen can also mean ‘god’. He certainly is seen as a deity, but he is a shape-shifter, and a praying mantis is only 1 of his many forms. There are so many stories about him. He can appear as a vulture, a snake, a hare, a human. Kaggen is a trickster, and can be wise and helpful, or mischievous and foolish. Sometimes he lives as an ordinary man doing ordinary things. But Kaggen is also a creator of life, and his favourite creation was the eland antelope. According to 1 myth, his 2 sons killed it by accident while hunting, but it was brought back to life after its blood and fat had been spilt on the ground. In fact, a herd of eland arose from it. But the eland never again trusted humans." ~ source
Thanks. Interesting as I can understand that term but praying mantis is what it looks like from a side on view and names should be left in my opinion if they are not obvious as the only ones looking it up and demanding change are most likely racist themselves for even thinking this. The street name change are pathetic considering what they have changed them too and never thought insects would be rebranded. Durban North has Fidel Castro Avenue and I know the streets from what they originally were named.
I couldn't agree with you more, they certainly have a lot more important things to spend Government time and money on.
And now they are changing the mint again as well. I think they are trying to create scarcity, but that doesn't work if every second south African coin is a 'limited edition' coin.
For fear of going off on a tangent - I am going to leave it at that.