land of fruit and nuts n. California. Editorial Note: A reference to both the agricultural bounty of California and the stereotypical image of Californians as being other than normal, fruit n., ‘a crazy person’ and nuts adj., ‘crazy.’ Usually jocular but sometimes derogatory. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
There was a time when William Shakespeare was just another little seven-year-old in school. Classes in his day were demanding — and all in Latin. A new book argues that this rigorous curriculum actually nurtured the creativity that later flourished...
You know when a cat’s tail goes straight up and appears to vibrate? Emily from Coventry, Rhode Island, says her family has their own word for that: fribbling. She says her family also made up the word bomple to denote the action of fruit...
I can’t cite any old print references, but that phrase was current in the 1940s.
This is, indeed, an oldie but goodie – we used to say California was like granola- nuts, fruits and flakes.
The only time I’ve ever heard of this phrase was in direct reference to San Francisco. Where fruit meant gay people and nuts meant crazy people. Perhaps because I grew up in California I’ve only heard this version.