Editing Apricot (section)

== In culture ==
[[File:深大寺のあんず飴 Apricot candy of Jindai-ji Temple (4061067396).jpg|thumb|Candied apricots (''anzu'') on [[monaka]] wafers at [[Jindai-ji (Tokyo)|Jindai-ji Temple]] in [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]]]

The apricot is the [[national fruit]] of [[Armenia]], mostly growing in the [[Ararat plain]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lehmann |first1=Maike |title=Apricot Socialism: The National Past, the Soviet Project, and the Imagining of Community in Late Soviet Armenia |journal=[[Slavic Review]] |date=2015 |volume=74 |issue=1 |pages=13 |doi=10.5612/slavicreview.74.1.9 |s2cid=155915149 |quote=The apricot, being the Armenian national fruit...}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grigoryan |first1=Marianna |title=Apricot Farmers Struggling in Armenia amid Crop Failure |url=https://eurasianet.org/node/61408 |agency=[[EurasiaNet]] |date=25 June 2010 |access-date=15 July 2018 |archive-date=14 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714222018/https://eurasianet.org/node/61408 |url-status=live }}</ref> It is often depicted on souvenirs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Schleifer |first1=Yigal |title=More on Armenia's Bitter Apricot Harvest |url=https://eurasianet.org/s/more-on-armenias-bitter-apricot-harvest |agency=[[EurasiaNet]] |date=2 July 2010 |access-date=15 July 2018 |quote=As a symbol of national pride the image of apricots is included in Armenian souvenirs. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180714222051/https://eurasianet.org/s/more-on-armenias-bitter-apricot-harvest |archive-date=14 July 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The Chinese associate the apricot with education and medicine. For instance, the classical word [[wikt:杏|杏]] [[wikt:壇|壇]] (literally: "apricot [[altar]]") (xìng tán 杏坛) which means "educational circle", is still widely used in written language. [[Zhuang Zhou|Zhuangzi]], a Chinese philosopher in the fourth century BC, told a story that [[Confucius]] taught his students in a forum surrounded by the wood of apricot trees.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ctext.org/zhuangzi/old-fisherman |title=《莊子·漁父》 |publisher=Ctext.org |access-date=2012-06-22 |archive-date=2013-05-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522232728/http://ctext.org/zhuangzi/old-fisherman |url-status=live }}</ref> The association with medicine in turn comes from the common use of apricot kernels as a component in [[traditional Chinese medicine]], and from the story of Dong Feng (董奉), a physician during the [[Three Kingdoms period]], who required no payment from his patients except that they plant apricot trees in his orchard upon recovering from their illnesses, resulting in a large grove of apricot trees and a steady supply of medicinal ingredients.<ref>{{Cite journal|pmc=1376720|title=Chinese Confucian culture and the medical ethical tradition|last=Guo|first=Zhaojiang|date=1995|volume= 21 |issue= 4| pages= 239–246| pmid=7473645|journal=Journal of Medical Ethics|doi=10.1136/jme.21.4.239}}</ref> The term "expert of the apricot grove" (杏林高手) is still used as a poetic reference to physicians.{{citation needed|date=August 2019}}

The fact that apricot season is short and unreliable in Egypt has given rise to the common [[Egyptian Arabic]] and [[Palestinian Arabic]] expression ''[[filmishmish]]'' ("in apricot [season]") or ''bukra filmishmish'' ("tomorrow in apricot [season]"), generally uttered as a riposte to an unlikely prediction, or as a rash promise to fulfill a request.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al Qasimi|first1=Nouf |title=There's an old Arabic proverb: You can have apricots tomorrow |url=https://www.thenationalnews.com/lifestyle/food/there-s-an-old-arabic-proverb-you-can-have-apricots-tomorrow-1.396914 |website=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]] |date=16 August 2012 |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref> This [[adynaton]] has the same sense as the English expression "[[when pigs fly]]".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Al Qasimi|first1=Nouf |title=Mish Mish |url=https://jfi.org/year-round/jfi-on-demand/mish-mish#:~:text=The%20affable%20character's%20name%20originated,something%20that%20will%20never%20happen. |website=Jewish Film Institute |access-date=18 August 2023}}</ref>

In [[Middle Eastern cuisine|Middle Eastern]] and [[North African cuisine]]s, apricots are used to make [[Qamar al-Din]] ({{lit|link=yes}} "Moon of the faith"), a thick apricot drink that is a popular fixture at [[Iftar]] during [[Ramadan]]. Qamar al-Din is believed to originate in [[Damascus, Syria]], where the variety of apricots most suitable for the drink was first grown.<ref>{{Cite news| last = Robertson| first = Amy| title = All Over The World, Thirsty Muslims Have Their Ramadan Go-To Drinks| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2018-05-22| date = 2017-06-08| url = https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/06/08/530893651/all-over-the-world-thirsty-muslims-have-their-ramadan-go-to-drinks| archive-date = 2019-08-07| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190807175000/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/06/08/530893651/all-over-the-world-thirsty-muslims-have-their-ramadan-go-to-drinks| url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news| last = Denker| first = Joel| title = 'Moon Of The Faith:' A History Of The Apricot And Its Many Pleasures| publisher = NPR| access-date = 2018-05-22| date = 2016-06-14| url = https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/14/481932829/moon-of-the-faith-a-history-of-the-apricot-and-its-many-pleasures| archive-date = 2019-08-08| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190808231633/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/06/14/481932829/moon-of-the-faith-a-history-of-the-apricot-and-its-many-pleasures| url-status = live}}</ref>

In [[Jewish culture]], apricots are commonly eaten as part of the [[Tu BiShvat seder|Tu BiShvat seder]].<ref>{{Cite web |last=Administrator |date=2018-01-21 |title=The Tu B'Shevat Seder |url=https://anglo-list.com/tu-bshevat-seder/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=Anglo-List |language=en-US}}</ref>

The Turkish idiom ''bundan iyisi Şam'da kayısı'' (literally, "the only thing better than this is an apricot in Damascus") means "it doesn't get any better than this".{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

In the [[U.S. Marines]] it is considered exceptionally bad luck to eat or possess apricots,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://amtrac.org/1atbn/Interest/Apricots.asp |title=Taste for Apricots Canned at Cua Viet |publisher=US Marines Armored Tractor Division |author=S.SGT. Bob Donner |access-date=2017-09-02 |archive-date=2017-09-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906133954/http://www.amtrac.org/1atbn/Interest/Apricots.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> especially near tanks.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.26thmeu.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/516281/apricots-aavs-no-happy-pair/ |title=Apricots, AAVs no happy pair |author=Cpl. Derek A. Shoemake |date=October 27, 2000 |access-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902141914/http://www.26thmeu.marines.mil/News/News-Article-Display/Article/516281/apricots-aavs-no-happy-pair/ |url-status=live }}</ref> This superstition has been documented since at least the [[Vietnam War]] and is often cited as originating in [[World War II]]. Even calling them by their name is considered unlucky,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1046642100123140320 |title=Superstitions Abound at Camp As Soldiers Await War in Iraq |author=Michael M. Phillips |date=March 3, 2003 |access-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-date=September 2, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170902150634/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1046642100123140320 |url-status=live }}</ref> so they are instead called "cots",<ref>{{cite book|title=War Slang: American Fighting Words & Phrases Since the Civil War|url=https://archive.org/details/warslangfighting00dick|url-access=registration| author=Paul Dickson |date=1994 |page=[https://archive.org/details/warslangfighting00dick/page/267 267]|publisher=Pocket Books|isbn=9780671750220}}</ref> "Forbidden fruit" or "A-fruit".<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sicard |first=Sarah |date=2021-05-23 |title=Why tankers are terrified of apricots |url=https://www.militarytimes.com/off-duty/military-culture/2021/05/20/why-tankers-are-terrified-of-apricots/ |access-date=2023-01-27 |website=[[Military Times]] |language=en}}</ref>

American [[Astronaut|astronauts]] ate dried apricot on the [[Apollo 15]] and [[Apollo 17]] missions to the moon.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bendix |first=Aria |title=From applesauce in a tube to 'space noodles,' here's how astronaut food has evolved from the 1960s to today |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/astronaut-food-in-space-timeline-2019-7 |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}</ref>