Counter point:

In a lot of languages the word for apple used to refer to all kinds of fruits, particularly new ones from more or less exotic lands. Pineapples also don't look much like apples, do they?

Why is this weird? "Apple" used to be the generic word for fruit in many different languages, it wasn't until recently that it took on the meaning of a specific type of fruit. I don't think calling potatoes "fruit of the earth" is at all strange. The English equivalent to this is the word "pineapple" -- a fruit that kind of looks like a pine cone.

if you think ground apples isn't an apt description, you've never eaten potatoes raw.

Recently I watched an press event with a Canadian politician, who was switching between French and English as we must sometimes. He was talking about a bag of apples (which his colleague was holding) costing a stupid amount of money. He made the mistake of saying a bag of potatoes, which i found fucking hilarious as I speak both languages and understand the mistake. Unfortunately for him, the people criticising him were morons and were like WHY WOULD HE SAY POTATOES IS HE STUPID.

isn't apple used in many languages as a generic term for fruit?... it's not like pineapple has anything to do with apples either.

American: "Have french people never eaten a good apple?"

Frenchman: "Have Americans never enjoyed a tasty potato?"

In Germany they are called Kartoffeln (which is also a slur for the Germans itself).
But potatoes are also called Erdäpfel (ground apples) or in southern dialect Krombire (bent pear).
More variants here:
Source (German): https://die-kartoffel.de/wissen/schon-gewusst/kartoffel-deutsche-dialekte/

Let the language which is without sin cast the first stone.

There was a time when "pomme" was used to name any fruit.

We also have a potato-like : word "patate". "Pomme de terre" is déformation of "parmetière" from the name of M.Parmentier who introduce potatoes to the french population.

good tasting apples are a relatively recent thing. They are one of the fruits where a good tasting one is rare and then has to propagated with grafts. Apples that grow from seed are not that great and before a certain point was mainly turned into cider and vinegar and such.

I grew up on a farm along a small river called the Pomme De Terre and we didn't grow potatoes. But we did have a potato lifter to harvest the 1/2 acre or so we would grow for our own consumption.

There was also a small county picnic area in the middle of nowhere by the same name. And no one knew why it was there.

Actually sounds like you've never had a fresh potato, pulled right out of the ground and eaten on the spot

Meanwhile in Quebec, they call them patates

I think "ground apples" would better apply to jicama.

Dug up from the ground, somewhat sweet, can be eaten raw or cooked, apple-like in texture...

Well Italians call tomatoes golden apples

Not just French