Fruit (slang) fruit" (and rarely "old tin of fruit") to the 1920s in Britain possibly deriving from the phrase "fruit of the womb". In the United States, however, both "fruit" and "fruitcake" are seen as negative with fruitcake likely originating from "nutty as a fruitcake" (a crazy person). A costermonger was a street seller of fruit and vegetables. The term, which derived from the words "costard" (a type of apple) and "monger", i.e. "seller", came to be particularly associated with the "barrow boys" of London who would sell their produce from a wheelbarrow or wheeled market stall. Costermongers have existed in London
Costard Costard Costard is a comic figure in the play "Love's Labour's Lost" by William Shakespeare. A country bumpkin, he is arrested in the first scene for flouting the king's proclamation that all men of the court avoid the company of women for three years. While in custody, the men of the court use him to further their own romantic endeavors. By sending love notes to the wrong women and blurting out secrets (including that of an unplanned pregnancy), Costard makes fools of the royal court. Along with Moth the page and Jaquenetta, a country wench, Costard pokes fun at the