The land of Canola and honey just doesn't have the same ring to it.
this post was submitted on 26 Apr 2025
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Canola wasn't around then. Canola is a lo acid version or whatever of rapeseed.
Thatsthejoke.
As others mentioned it was rape as "rapeseed". Unfortunate homophone of another word referring to non-consensual sex.
Middle English borrowed the word "rape" (for the seed) straight from Latin, rapum, rapa. The Latin word actually refers to turnips, but they're relatives and their flowers look really similar:
Top is turnip (Latin rapa), bottom is rape. Latin inherited it from Proto-Indo-European *[s]rā́p- "wild cabbage, turnip"; it's a really weird word, that *ā shows it was borrowed into Late PIE from some pre-IE language.
Then the word referring to non-consensual sex was from Norman French "rap" instead. It's ultimately from Latin "rapere" (to seize, capture, rape), in turn inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rep- "to snatch".
Isnt that canola?
As other users highlighted, canola is a specific cultivar of rapeseed. The name is for Canadian oil, low acidity. It was originally a brand.
Wiktionary also lists "colza", ultimately from Dutch koolzaad (cabbage seed). I never saw it in English, only in Portuguese (and even then it was an "ackshyually" moment).
The rape was refering to rape seed. Belive Canola is a modified form of it.
The land of the rape seed...
Thanks for clearing that up.
What does "rape and honey" mean in this context? Is this a metaphor?
As a non native English speaker i would interpret "rape and honey" into the sexual abuse and the bee food.
The unfortunately named rapeseed
wait a fucking second, that's a Brassica
Basically everything is
Oddly enough it's a total coincidence that they are homonyms. The plant's name comes from the Latin name for turnip, rapum
Rapum, I hardly know 'em!
(I'm probably gonna regret posting this)
Rapeseed is a plant that is grown for its oil and is called "rape" for short.
As a native English speaker, I'd assume most people have the same first thought as you and is why they changed it.
That oil is more commonly called canola, by the way. Canadian Oil, Low Acid. Used for the same reason the motto was changed.
Having to promote it as "rape oil" would be a marketing department's nightmare.
I think you'd sometimes see it as "rapeseed oil" - still not great, but better.
No Canola is different then rapeseed. I mean it's a modified version of it.
How is Canola different than Rapeseed when it just comes from a different variety of Rapeseed? It's like saying grape juice isn't grape juice just because it came from a white grape instead of a concord grape.
Note that canola is a variety of rapeseed.
It's more like it's called rapeseed for long. It used to just be called "rape", but people wanted to distinguish the name from the other meaning and it's mostly the seeds we grow it for
The Land of Rape and Honey is a good album
So tired of the wokeness
(Am I doing it right?)