ProverbMorality
English origin1599
English origin1599Oysters are not good in the month that hath not an R in it.
Meaning: Eating oysters in summer months lacking the letter R risks spoilage and illness from warm-water bacterial growth.
Origin: The rule rules out May through August. Henry Buttes's food guide Dyets Dry Dinner (1599) already calls oysters unseasonable and unwholesome in all months without an R. Summer is when oysters spawn and grow thin and watery, and before refrigeration it was also when shellfish spoiled fastest.
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