A sour, yellow citrus fruit with thick skin and juicy flesh, often used for flavoring food and drinks. Informally, it can also mean something that is defective or disappointing, especially a car.
From Middle East languages, likely Arabic *laymūn* or Persian *limu*, meaning “citrus fruit.” It came into European languages through trade, along with the fruit itself.
The idea of a ‘lemon’ as something broken comes from American slang, probably because a lemon’s sourness felt like a bad surprise. It’s a great example of how food words can turn into powerful metaphors for disappointment.
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