In the 2nd world war where did the word limeys come from?

Answer 1

The word Limey dates to long before the second world war and refers to the fact that British Navy Sailors used to eat Limes (and Lemons) to avoid scurvy.

Limey is a nickname that was originally used for sailors in the Royal Navy. When more sailors were incapacitated or died through scurvy than in battle a solution had to be found.

Scurvy is a vitamin deficiency disease, namely vitamin C. As lemons were a rich source of this they were initially used, but proved too expensive for the government and the Admialty. A cheaper answer was limes, so they were given to the sailors.

Hence the name limey