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Names (lemmy.ca)
submitted 2 years ago by to c/programmerhumor@lemmy.ml
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[–] 37 points 2 years ago (7 children)

On that note, I sure hope he doesn’t uses any Apple products either.

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  • [–] 28 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    TL;DR The fruit of the tree of knowledge being a literal apple is non-canon, being entirely based on a pun.

    The word "apple" is not used in the Bible, that is, unless the Bible in question is a translation that specifically uses that word. Even then, see below.

    The whole apple thing comes from:

    1. the fact that the word for "apple" can be used as a synonym for "(any) fruit" in some languages and context, and so could mean any fruit.

    Think about French pomme de terre for "potato" which is literally "apple (meaning 'fruit') of the earth". Dutch has aardappel (earth apple) which is the same thing. Fun fact: Old English eorþæppel (earth apple) allegedly meant "cucumber". Go figure. But I digress.

    1. Latin is the main ecclesiastical language for one particularly influential branch of Christianity and one word for apple in Latin is "malus". That sounds like a lot of unrelated Latin words that start "mal-" that mean bad or evil, thus an apparent connection to the fruit of the tree of knowledge also leading to evil.

    (I mean, it might actually be a proto-apple of some sort (modern apples did not exist 7000 years ago or whenever it was supposed to be) but the Bible doesn't specify.

    Some scholars think that the whole thing developed out of metaphor for abandoning a hunter-gatherer lifestyle for farming. Others think that it might be a reference to beer / alcohol, which is one of the first things humans got interested in after farming.)

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  • [–] 7 points 2 years ago

    Latin also used apple as a stand-in for generic fruit, cf. malum persicum ("Persian apple") meaning peach.

    And, fun fact, the English word "pineapple" was originally synonymous with "pinecone" (i.e. the fruit of the pine tree).

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (3 children)

    I was genuinely taught by my churh not to use apple products for this exact reason. The youth leaders went on a whole tangent about the symbolism. They thought Apple, the company, was trying to trick us all into satanism.

    It was a little bit like that video of the lady preaching about Monster energy drinks. Oh, and you better believe they showed us all that video unironically.

    But c'mon, at least Monster is supposed to be edgy. Apple is literally just an apple. Insanity, I tell you

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago (2 children)

    Well I'm pretty sure that is the symbolism they were using, and either implying it gives your freedom or knowledge, I assume the former. It's a pretty good symbol if you agree that eating the theoretical apple is actually a good thing.

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  • [–] 3 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    That's a cool way to look at it! I got curious so I looked it up, and I found an interview with the guy who designed the logo, and he said it's a myth.

    Of course, I'll add that there might be more to the story than that. IIRC the name was chosen before the logo, so this doesn't rule out that the name itself was a reference to the bible story. Also, if it was, I kinda doubt that Apple would openly confirm it now, knowing it could cause them to lose some of their customers. 🤷

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