On Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:29:16 +0000 (GMT), "Dave Plowman (News)"
wrote:

In article
,
wrote:
A green olive is the industry standard way of joining 3/4" copper to
22mm with a 22mm fitting.Has been available since metric pipe first
appeared. Is painted green so muppets like your self know what it is.

Given this question has come up several times on here during the many
many years I've been reading this group, it's the first I've heard of this
expression. And since I was around when the conversion happened and bought
such things then something painted green would have stuck in the mind. Nor
does painting an olive sound like good practice to me - they rely on
intimate contact to seal properly.

Perhaps it's a regional thing like 'pattress'.

Just had a look in my plumbing bits in the shed. Two large olives. One
has a slightly larger taper on one side and has a slight green tint.
These are from 1988 when I redid the kitchen and bathroom in my last
house and had to connect old imperial to new metric pipework