Origins of "Mellorine"

[Kaboom]

So we all know it, we all love it. Sanji's good ol' chant of "Mellorine, mellorine..." when his eyes are graced with the sight of some dazzlingly beautiful lady (or a cross-dressing shapeshifter disguised as one). But what, exactly, is the intended origin of the word? I'm getting two separate stories.

1) "Mellorine" is a smooth, creamy, frozen, fruit-based dessert similar to sherbert ice cream or something, and Sanji's chanting it is a reference to the aesthetically pleasing sights of the women.

2) And this is the new one I've just been told, it's "Mero-Rin," with the "mero" part having to do with falling in love, similar to Hancock's Mero Mero Fruit, and the "rin"... I'm not sure what the "rin" part means.

I'm getting told by someone now that it has nothing to do with #1, and is all #2. But I was almost positive #1 was confirmed fact, from an SBS or something. Is it strictly one or the other, or is it one of those double-puns Mr. Oda's so fond of giving us? Could I get some linkable proof one way or another, if it exists?

[McCallum.D.Connor]

I looked it up and i think the best answer i found was something along the lines of

"Mellorine is a word to express emotion that holds no grammatical relation to any other words in the sentance, often used in the sight of great beauty that would be sweet to the taste if it was a food."

I believe thats a pretty good description considering Sanji loves both Women and Cooking.

[Kaboom]

Well, the person I'm debating with is apparently Japanese, and swears up and down that the word is just "mero-rin" and we arrogant Westerners are just selfishly twisting it around into our "mellorine" word. So yeah, I'm sure his version works too, and that it's a double-pun, but unless I can point to an SBS, I'm kind of sunk for an argument.

Not really super-important, I was just hoping for something concrete to link to.

[Buuhan1]

Well, we have Japanese speakers on this forum, such as Greg and Demon Rin. Drop one of them a PM to get them to come to the thread and see if they can shed some light. Remember to say "please".

[Greg]

The word is `meromero`. It means becoming infatuated with something and losing all reasonable thought on sight.

I discussed it with Haruka and we both agreed that `merorin` is not specifically a term Oda created, but instead is being uttered as to SOUND foreign. OP is not the only place I`ve seen it. And yes, the chance exists that Oda is using it because of a coincidental similarity to a food.

However looking towards the origin of the term `meromero`, it appears to have first been recognized as being used in the Kamakura period. So yeah, probably not originating from a sherbet.

[tirwen]

[quote=Kaboom;987287]
1) "Mellorine" is a smooth, creamy, frozen, fruit-based dessert similar to sherbert ice cream or something, and Sanji's chanting it is a reference to the aesthetically pleasing sights of the women.
/quote]

Having eaten mellorine, I can say the description isn't exactly accurate. It's not fruit-based, nor is it very similar to sherbet. It's imitation ice cream. It was fairly common back in the '70's in the southern part of the US as a cheaper alternative to ice cream. If you've ever had those inexpensive frozen cream pies, it's very similar to that. Or maybe frozen Cool Whip.