Limey is an old
American and
Canadian slang nickname for the
British, originally referring to British
sailors. The term is believed to derive from
lime juice, referring to the
Royal Navy and
Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice to British sailors to prevent
scurvy. The benefits of
citrus juice were well known at the time thanks to the acute observations of surgeon
James Lind who noticed that the
cabbage-eating
Dutch had fewer problems with
scurvy[
citation needed]. Limes replaced
lemons due to limes being more readily available from Britain's own
Caribbean colonies. Lemon juice was reintroduced after scurvy again became a problem due to lime juice lacking sufficient vitamin C. The term is thought to have originated in the Caribbean in the 1880s.[
citation needed] A false etymology is that it is a derivative of "Corr-blimey" ("God blind me!" or "God blight me!").