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This article is about the common nickname for the potato. For other uses, see Spud (disambiguation)
Etymology "Spud" is a common nickname for the potato in English-speaking countries. The term spud has been falsely traced to a 19th century activist group dedicated to keeping the potato out of Britain, calling itself The Society for the Prevention of an Unwholesome Diet. However, the correct etymology of "spud" is that this word for potato comes from the digging of soil/hole prior to planting the potatoes. The word is of unknown origin and was originally (c. 1440) used as a term for a short knife or dagger. It subsequently transferred over to a variety of digging tools. Around 1845 it transferred over to the tuber itself. It was Mario Pei's 1949 The Story of Language that can be blamed for the false origin of the word. Pei writes, "the potato, for its part, was in disrepute some centuries ago. Some Englishmen who did not fancy potatoes formed a Society for the Prevention of Unwholesome Diet. The initials of the main words in this title gave rise to spud." Like all other pre-20th century acronymic origins, this one is false. In the 17th century, Scottish clergymen banned their flocks from planting potatoes, saying that the tubers were unworthy of human consumption because they were not mentioned in the Bible. The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1768-71), originally published in Edinburgh in the 18th century, referred to the potato as a "demoralizing esculent." | ||||||||
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