# lemon-shaped pear



## almostfreebird

The other day, in a supermarket in Japan , a Russian woman asked me saying "I'm looking for a certain material that is used in the candy(or cake) making." and showed me her Russian-Japanese dictionary that definded the word as " lemon-shaped grenade, lemon-shaped pear" and she said it tasted sweet and had the flavor of lemon.
I have no idea what the material is and I'm not sure if the dictionary is wrong or not.
If anybody know what that is, please help me!
I also want to know the Russian word.

Thanks in advance.


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## palomnik

What was the dictionary word in Japanese? If the Japanese reading was 梨 then it's worth bearing in mind that the Japanese version of this fruit is generally somewhat different in shape and taste than western pears - the Japanese one is round, the western one is, well, "pear-shaped", round and full at the bottom and narrow at the top - and maybe that's all the woman had in mind.

Regarding their taste, I never thought Japanese pears tasted like lemons, although they don't taste like western pears either.  To each his own.


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## almostfreebird

Yes, the dictionary she showed me defined the Russian word as "lemon-shaped grenade, lemon-shaped pear" literally in Japanese.(I can’t read russian though)
It probably is a kind of fruit and must be used for making cakes or candy or
just for dessert. But I’ve never seen the lemon-shaped pear and I don’t think 
they use grenades for making cakes. That is really a mystery. I’m beginning to think that her dictionary is unreliable.


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## palomnik

Almost, you've piqued my curiosity.  What was the Japanese word in the dictionary?

I own a Japanese-Russian dictionary (published in Russia), but under なし it just says груша.

I think the word for the fruit in modern English is "pomegranate", not "grenade", by the way.


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## papillon

This is getting interesting. It's not going to answer the original question I'm afraid, but a "lemon-shaped grenade" - a weapon -  does exist in the Russian language. The name is лимонка (limonka), obviously from лимон (limon) - lemon, and it's the most popular type of grenade used until quite recently. To tell the truth, it looks more like a pineapple to me (I only found a Bulgarian Wiki site, but take a look at the first picture here).


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## cyanista

A lemon-shaped grenade is most probably лимонка. I've never heard about pears called лимонка, though.

Citric acid (лимонная кислота) can be colloquially called лимонка but that's about all I can think of.

*Update:* I've just found some articles about груша-лимонка.


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## palomnik

The word "grenade" comes for the French word for "pomegranate" (гранат in Russian), because the shrapnel they spread looked like pomegranate seeds.

We are getting off topic here, though.


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## papillon

cyanista said:


> А ларчик просто открывался...


We may be onto something here. Now the only thing missing is for someone who owns a copy of a good Rus.-Jap. dictionary to check how the word лимонка is translated into Japanese.

Another update: in the Efremov dictionary (as per Gramota.ru), the word limonka has two meanings. My rendition:

1 (sic!). Сорт груш, формой напоминающих лимон; груша такого сорта.
A variety of pears, whose shape resembles a lemon; a pear of this breed.

2. Ручная граната, формой напоминающая лимон.
A hand grenade whose shape resembles a lemon.


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## almostfreebird

<<What was the Japanese word in the dictionary?>>

「レモン型の手榴弾。レモン状のなし。」 This is what I read and that means "lemon-shaped grenade, lemon-like pear".

Anyway I begin to feel like learning Russian, at least I have to be able to read Russian alphabet.








By the way she was a pretty stout and a little scary middle-aged woman.


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## palomnik

Wow, when you said "grenade" you weren't kidding!  It says a "lemon-shaped hand grenade" in Japanese!

Papi, I'd say that you're right on with the information from Efremov; the Japanese translation sounds as if it was based on Efremov, in fact.


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## papillon

There are some surprising features to this story.

1. I am really surprised that this lady actually went to a Japanese supermarket looking for _limonka_ like if it were the most normal thing in her country. True, sometimes we expect to find certain types of food, and get surprised when people in another country don't know what you're talking about. This has happened to me in Spain with укроп (dill), кабачки (~type of gourd) and зелёный лук (green onion). But these were ubiquitous back home, so their absence came as a shock. But it would never occur to me to start inquiring, say, not for apples, but specifically for _antonovka_ in a foreign food store. _

Limonka_ on the other hand is far from common-place, and some of us in the forum until this day didn't know that in addition to a hand grenade it could mean a fruit. Furthermore, giving "used in the candy(or cake) making" as the defining characteristic of this fruit is highly odd. Of course, I have no doubt that _limonka_ yields delicious cakes and preserves, but certainly _limonka_ is not the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a cake, not to me at least.

2. I find it odd that the dictionary listed these two meanings in a single line separated just by a coma. That's what made me think first of pomegranate, not hand grenade.


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## cheshire

From _Кэнкюся Русско-японский Словарь_

лимонка: 1: a kind of pear (lemon-shaped)
              2: a lemon-shaped hand grenade

I believe the Russian woman wanted to buy 1 in the dictionary definition, but didn't know any Japanese, so she showed all the definitions of лимонка to the shop clerk.

I've never seen pears other than European Pears or Japanese Pears .
If you have images of lemon-shaped pears, please paste it here.


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## Q-cumber

Perhaps she just pointed a wrong entry in the dictionary or *almostfreebird* misunderstood her gesture. I suggest she needed a lemon acid (widely used in candy(or cake) making) or just a lemon.


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## slavian1

I think, that the lady wanted to buy a pomegranate. In polish language there is a word 'granat' witch has to meanings. First one is a hand grenade and second one is a pomegranate. In Russian language is almost alike. 
Hand grenade is 'granata' and pomegranate is 'granat' (according do the dictionary, I had checked). I think it's the source of mistake of japanese translation. Additionally both things have (more or less) a shape of 'nashi' (the japanese pear).


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## tkekte

It's probably a pineapple, it looks a lot like a hand grenade.  And the dictionary probably doesn't know the japanese word for "pineapple". I don't either, my dictionary only has the loanword パイナップル.


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## Q-cumber

Right, *slavian1*, this is also possible.


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## cyanista

Isn't the matter already clear?


cheshire said:


> From _Кэнкюся Русско-японский Словарь_
> 
> лимонка: 1: a kind of pear (lemon-shaped)
> 2: a lemon-shaped hand grenade
> 
> I believe the Russian woman wanted to buy 1 in the dictionary definition, but didn't know any Japanese, so she showed all the definitions of лимонка to the shop clerk.
> 
> I've never seen pears other than European Pears or Japanese Pears .
> If you have images of lemon-shaped pears, please paste it here.



I'm referring everyone to post #6 where I've given a link to an article about these pears which also contained a picture. 

The only mysterious thing about this story, like papillon already said, is why on earth this woman expected to find such pears in a Japanese supermarket.


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## slavian1

tkekte said:


> It's probably a pineapple, it looks a lot like a hand grenade.  And the dictionary probably doesn't know the japanese word for "pineapple". I don't either, my dictionary only has the loanword パイナップル.


I don't supose she wanted to buy a pineapple. パイナップル ia a reqular japanese word although it's english origin (just like オレンジ　for an orange). So her dictionary should contain definition of this word.


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## almostfreebird

tkekte said:


> It's probably a pineapple, it looks a lot like a hand grenade.



That’s hilarious!


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## cheshire

What's the gatota doing?
The Russian woman in supermarket wanted to bake a cake. She needed the fruit to put in the dough.


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## almostfreebird

So the word 'limonka'(Russian word) is almost quite the same as the word 'granat'(Polish word)?
If so, my earliest question is  figured out.


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## Kolan

almostfreebird said:


> So the word 'limonka'(Russian word) is almost quite the same as the word 'granat'(Polish word)?
> If so, my earliest question is  figured out.


Yes, "Limonka" means a lemon-shaped *Ф-1* defensive grenade with a range of destructive capability up to 200 m. Not recommended to use in the offensive actions.


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## Q-cumber

"ЛИМОНКА" 

The constructor's name was Lemon


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## papillon

almostfreebird said:


> So the word 'limonka'(Russian word) is almost quite the same as the word 'granat'(Polish word)?
> If so, my earliest question is  figured out.


*almostfreebird* - have you read (my) post # 8? I think your question had been figured out a while ago, starting perhaps as far back as posts #5 and 6.

I don't know Polish, but in Russian we have two words: _granat_ and _granata_.
_Granat_: in Eng: Pomegranate, a fruit with lots of red juicy seed.
_Granat*a*: _<hand> grenade, a weapon to kill people.

Of these two, Limonka has *nothing* to do with pomegranate (the-fruit) and has a lot to do with grenade (the weapon).


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