These are the AWP or amusement with prizes machines. To be fair to fruitie purists, there is another sub-genre of fruit machines. Where are the mechanical parts, the handle, the clattering reels? Yes, today’s ‘ machines‘ have engines, but that’s another matter altogether. Of course, they are all terms used for what was originally known as a slot machine – which in itself, is now sort of a misnomer. A vender that dispenses apples and oranges?.Thank goodness we have context, as each one of those descriptors or pet names could have myriad alternate meanings.
Oh… and let’s not forget “one-armed bandit”! In the world of online gambling, and even on land, we find user activated casino gambling machines with three or more spinning reels referred to variously as slot machines, fruit machines, puggies, or pokies depending on the source. So we’ll look deeper, much deeper in hopes of finding bedrock. But like most things, just below the surface of the mud, there’s more mud. In a nutshell, some machines have symbols of fruits on their reels. We recently embarked on a journey to find where the term “ fruit machine” comes from. If you have ever had a word or phrase stick in your head until you are compelled to travel down every possible rabbit hole on the internet to find its meaning and origin you are not alone. Where does the term “fruit machine” come from?
