[Ads-l] Underwear ad

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Charles C Doyle wrote:
> Has anyone else always wondered whether the brand
> name "Fruit of the Loom" intends to echo (bawdily?
> sacrilegiously? subliminally?) the expression "fruit of the
> womb"?

The following book mentioned the possibility of a connection between
"Fruit of the Loom" and "fruit of the womb". Footnote number 33 was
referenced, but the page showing footnote 33 was not visible in the
Google Preview.

Year: 2014
Title: Berkshire Beyond Buffett: The Enduring Value of Values
Author: Lawrence A. Cunningham
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Database: Google Books Preview

[Begin excerpt]
In 1851, Knight Brothers gave their fabric a homespun name, Fruit of
the Loom, an innovation in branding decades before such marketing
strategies became commonplace. (Some speculate that Fruit of the Loom
was a play on the biblical phrase "fruit of the womb," meaning
children. 33) In 1871, when the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
opened, the Knight Brothers were among the first of millions to
register a trademark.
[End excerpt]

Garson



On Wed, Jul 6, 2016 at 5:40 AM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
> Has anyone else always wondered whether the brand name "Fruit of the Loom" intends to echo (bawdily? sacrilegiously? subliminally?) the expression "fruit of the womb"?
>
>
> --Charlie
>
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, July 6, 2016 1:53:33 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Re: Underwear ad
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Underwear ad
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>> On Jul 6, 2016, at 5:45 AM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>>=20
>> "These Fruit of the Loom breathable underwear are perfect!"
>>=20
>> Once upon a time, this would have read:
>>=20
>> "This Fruit of the Loom breathing underwear is perfect."
>>=20
>> Oh, well.
>>=20
> Maybe the adperson was British.  Underwear (especially if it's on the =
> same side) work(s) together collectively as a team, so it's like =
> "Portugal are favoured over Wales in the semis".
>
> LH
>
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>
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