apple-pie order

The phrase apple-pie order, referring to a state of prim and precise orderliness, is perhaps a corruption of the French nappes pliées, "(neatly) folded linen," or cap-a-pie, "head-to-toe." Yet neither of these bastardizations have been proven.

Apple-pie order, therefore, remains a mystery.

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acorn

Why is the fruit of an oak tree called an acorn?

Acorn derives from the Old English æcern, which meant "fruit" or "berry." Its transition from æcern to the modern-day acorn was the result of phono-semantic matching: Speakers misinterpreted æcern as oak corn, logically thinking it was called such because it was the seed (or kernel) of the oak tree (in Old English, ac = oak).

Literally: "oak kernel"

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