Origin
The use of the word 'lemon' to describe a highly flawed item predates its use in describing cars, and can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century as a British and American slang. Julian Koenig used the term to refer to a defective model in Volkswagen's 1950s Think Small advertising campaign.
Economist George Akerlof has also been credited with coining the term in his 1970 paper "The Market for Lemons: Quality Uncertainty and the Market Mechanism." Akerlof identified the severe lemon problems that may afflict markets characterized by asymmetrical information. A study of rejections of important economic papers noted that before Akerlof's paper was accepted, The first lemon law was proposed in California in 1980.
Read more about this topic: Lemon (automobile)
Famous quotes containing the word origin:
“High treason, when it is resistance to tyranny here below, has its origin in, and is first committed by, the power that makes and forever re-creates man.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Though I do not believe that a plant will spring up where no seed has been, I have great faith in a seed,—a, to me, equally mysterious origin for it.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Art is good when it springs from necessity. This kind of origin is the guarantee of its value; there is no other.”
—Neal Cassady (1926–1968)