[mcphage]

> A lemon is a bad thing that happens to you, but this seems like it was a good thing for you?

Probably referencing "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade", not like a car is a lemon.

[dmd]

Yes, thus my question. In that phrase, a "lemon" is a bad thing that is happening to you, which you turn somehow into something good (lemonade).

[mcphage]

> a "lemon" is a bad thing that is happening to you

I guess in this case, the lemon is a bad thing in general, not specifically to them.

[hunter-gatherer]

Lol. Maybe I've misunderstood this idiom my entire life. I've always taken the lemon to be a sort of neutral player since it isn't always trivial to make something better out of a neutral (ie to see the opportunity) and is even less trivial to make a positive spin on a negative thing.

[animal531]

Haha there are two different idioms in play here.

- "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade" - Make something positive out of something negative.

- Using Lemon as a descriptor of something, e.g. "I bought a Lemon", or "It turned into a Lemon" - Usually indicates that there was some unknown defect in the product, e.g. the car you bought stopped working after a week, or the house you bought on the cheap turned out to be made up of 90% termites and only 10% wood.

[dartos]

Lemons are sour and bad.

But you can use them to make lemonade, a sweet treat.

I never liked the saying bc I like lemons by themselves too.

[jewayne]

I think the idea is that you were expecting something sweet, but got something sour, and it's now up to you to make the best of the sourness.

Is English your second language?

[xanderlewis]

From the Oxford English Dictionary: 4. an unsatisfactory or feeble person or thing. "car-makers cannot afford to create lemons"

[xeonmc]

I’ve always preferred the Cave Johnson version.