In Sweeney Todd, what makes the green grocer funny?

Question

In Sweeney Todd, there is a song about cannibalism. I can appreciate all of the jokes, but the grocer joke perplexes me some:

TODD:
Is that squire,
On the fire?
LOVETT:
Mercy no, sir, look closer,
You'll notice it's grocer!
TODD:
Looks thicker,
More like vicar!
LOVETT:
No, it has to be grocer --
It's green!

I’m aware of a “green grocer” in 21st-century lingo, but it obviously isn’t the same for Victorian times. So what is the joke in the grocer being green?

Opening this up to non-Sweeney-Todd fans, you can see the full lyrics of the song here:
http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/sweeneytodd/alittlepriest.htm

I don’t want to limit it to just a small group. I’ll take any answer that I can get, as long as it’s appropriate.

Answer 1

First of all, I LOVE Sweeney Todd! Johnny Depp is supposed to play Todd in a movie version that Tim Burton is directing...

Grocers are people who sell food, so if they sell fresh vegetables or whatnot, they are surrounded by green, or they carry green-colored food...Interpret it however you want, but it's basically connecting people who sell fresh items (which are usually green!).

Answer 2

It may indeed be an anachronistic joke. However, from what I've read, the term "green grocer", or "greengrocer", dates back to at least mid-20th-century Britain.

"A greengrocer is a retail trader in fruit and vegetables; that is, in green groceries. Greengrocer is primarily a British term, and greengrocer's shops were once common in towns and villages."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greengrocer

"Apostrophes used incorrectly to form plurals are known as greengrocers' apostrophes (also: greengrocer's apostrophes, grocers' apostrophes or grocer's apostrophes, sometimes humorously greengrocers apostrophe's). It is believed that the term was first coined in the middle of the twentieth century by a teacher of languages working in Liverpool in the United Kingdom, at a time when such mistakes were common in the handwritten signs and advertisements of greengrocers, e.g., "Apple's 1'- a pound, orange's 1'6d a pound". "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greengrocer%27s_apostrophe#Greengrocers.27_apostrophes


Also, even back in the 19th century, grocers would have sold green vegetables, so the joke may have worked even back then.

Answer 3

I don't think the reference is too obscure. After all, Sweeney and Mrs. Lovett are singing about MEAT pies. If the meat in your meat pie was GREEN...wouldn't you be a bit concerned? I think they're just riffing on the possibility that some of the meat they back into their pies might not be the freshest...

Answer 4

grocers sell fresh groceries. has to be grocer, cos its green, like veggies, akin to the green thumb