watermelon

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   An environmentalist with socialist leanings, an ecosocialist.

   According to this distorted view of life, environmentalists are watermelons – green on the outside, red on the inside – who want to impose regulation, “the slippery slope to socialism”, on the use of tobacco, ozone-destroying chemicals and greenhouse gases.

2. 2
   noun

   A project that is presented as on schedule when it actually has parts that are falling behind.

   The nuts and bolts of any project are transparency. If the project status is transparent, the watermelons can’t arise. If anybody is able to get the information, it will be difficult to hide something.

3. 3
   noun

   large oblong or roundish melon with a hard green rind and sweet watery red or occasionally yellowish pulp

4. 4
   noun

   an African melon

From the 1610s, a compound of water + melon. Compare French melon d'eau, German Wassermelone, and Spanish melón de agua. The meanings referring to environmentalists and behind-schedule projects derive from the idea of having a green (eco-friendly, on-schedule) outward appearance while being red (socialist, behind schedule) in a hidden way comparable to that of the fruit.

Topics

External links

• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary
• Google Images