Did you know cucumbers used to be called “cowcumbers”? Yep, it sounds like a funny bovine pun, but it was actually the standard pronunciation for centuries, according to History Facts! The name originally came from Latin (“cucumerem”) and morphed through French into “cowcumber” by the 18th century. Even Charles Dickens used it to poke fun at social classes! Though “cucumber” eventually became the proper way to say it, some folks stuck with “cowcumber” up until the 1960s. Fun fact: there’s still a type of magnolia tree called the cowcumber! Wild, right?
