Where does a cucumber stop and a gherkin start?
When it originates in the West Indies and is of the variety
Cucumis anguria[/] rather than the garden cucumber Cucumis sativus.
(I looked it up, I ain't no Monty Don. Alan Titchmarsh wants decking.)
Interesting. I was always under the impression that the word gherkin is one of only two words* in English derived from Polish, in this case from
ogórek, that being the Polish for cucumber (itself derived from a Greek word meaning melon... I guess the melons are smaller further north, or maybe it's the cucumbers that are bigger further south).
Ogórek refers to all types, species and genera of cucumber, whether fresh or pickled. The connection with buses (see upthread) remains unclear to me.
*The other is spruce (the tree, not the cleanliness).