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)
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