Is there such a thing as a fruitmonger? In a conversation with friends, someone used that term and got a strong reaction from the rest who felt only the word fishmonger existed. However when I checked out the meaning of "monger", it appeared that "monger"meant a dealer in a certain commodity (dictionary.com) with examples like "fishmonger", "ironmonger" being given. Since fruit is a commodity it could be used with the word monger. However looking at the word's origin, there could be some reason why it is not used with the word monger. Coming from PIE base *mang- "to embellish, dress, trim.", perhaps this is why fruits are not usually used with the word "monger" as they do not need to be dealt with in the same way fish or iron might have to be (scaled, shaped). Also, since "monger" has another meaning of:

A person promoting something undesirable or discreditable. Often used in combination: a scandalmonger; a warmonger.
Dictionary.com

which is something negative, perhaps more unpleasant commodities also come to be associated with the term as seen with fish and iron.


which is something negative, perhaps more unpleasant commodities also come to be associated with the term as seen with fish and iron.