They Used To Call An Avocado WHAT?!

Added: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]The word avocado was literally invented by a group of farmers in 1915 because the real name was too embarrassing. The fruit originated in Mexico where the Aztecs called it ahuacatl in the Nahuatl language. The word also meant testicle, named for its shape. Spanish conquistadors adopted it as aguacate.

[00:00:19]English speakers called it alligator pear. In 1915, a group of California avocado farmers had a problem. Americans could not pronounce aguacate. The alligator pear name was putting people off and they certainly could not tell people what the Aztec name [music] meant. So, they invented a new word, avocado. They wrote to dictionary publishers, had it officially entered, and named their own group the California Avocado Association. The word was manufactured for marketing purposes and it worked. And guacamole comes from the same Nahuatl root, ahuacamolli, meaning avocado sauce. So, the avocado you eat today has a made-up name, invented by farmers to hide the fact that the Aztecs called it a testicle.