Have you ever tasted the well-known Oreo cookie? Do you know where the product’s name comes from? Well, if you’re French, Greek or Latin you have possibly thought about it.
First of all, Oreo is a brand of a cookie known as a chocolate sandwich cookie, first produced in 1912 in the United States and then exported around the world. Varieties of Oreo cookies have been produced and become popular mostly in the 21st century.
As for etymology of the name, nobody actually is aware of the origin or the reason why it was named that way but there are plenty of potential hypotheses. Maybe it came from the French word ‘’or’’ meaning gold, or the Greek word ‘’ωραίο’’, meaning tasty-beautiful-well done. Others believe that the name Oreo was simply chosen because it is short and easy to pronounce. Another theory is that the name derives from the Latin oreodaphne, a kind of laurel. A food writer notes in her book that the original design of the Oreo includes a laurel wreath and the names of many cookies at the time had botanical derivations.
As for the reason I wrote about that adorable cookie, the first time I ate it, it gave me food for thought about the origin of its name. It’s probably because I use the Greek word ‘’ωραίο’’ on a daily basis.
‘’People are like Oreos. The good stuff is in the inside,’’ I’ve read somewhere. Well, I’m not sure about every single person but I can assure you about the perfect inside of the Oreos, but people allergic to milk are the exception.
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Anastasia Chatziparaskeva-Pontou School
