land of fruit and nuts n. California. Editorial Note: A reference to both the agricultural bounty of California and the stereotypical image of Californians as being other than normal, fruit n., ‘a crazy person’ and nuts adj., ‘crazy.’ Usually jocular but sometimes derogatory. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
It’s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when people disagreed over the best word to use when answering the phone. Alexander Graham Bell suggested answering with ahoy! but Thomas Edison was partial to hello! A fascinating new book about...
What do you call a segment of an orange? These juicy pieces of fruit go by lots of different names, including section, wedge, and carpel. But they’re also called pegs or even pigs! The stringy parts of a banana also have a surprising name...
I can’t cite any old print references, but that phrase was current in the 1940s.
This is, indeed, an oldie but goodie – we used to say California was like granola- nuts, fruits and flakes.
The only time I’ve ever heard of this phrase was in direct reference to San Francisco. Where fruit meant gay people and nuts meant crazy people. Perhaps because I grew up in California I’ve only heard this version.