Ahhh, the product of a poor mis-spent youth!
Just kidding. People from England are called Limeys (a derogatory term) because, back in the olden days, even before my time, England had the greatest Navy in the world. Problem with being on a ship for a long time, is often nutrition wasn't the greatest and scurvey was a common result.
When they figured out that lack of Vitamin C was the main cause of scurvey, England started having their sailors suck on....you guessed it, limes.
I imagine the prase was coined by sailors from other countries who thought it looked rather foolish. Probably those damned frogs, errr....French. But that's a story for another day.