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Fruit and veg

Terry60

By Terry60

16 comments


I was telling my neighbour, Napoleons’ mum, the other day that tomatoes are really fruits and not vegetables – and then we got sidetracked into other veg/fruits – i.e. when is a fruit a fruit and when is a veg a veg?? Cos of the seeds – right? She was not going to be convinced, so then she says, well about aubergines, zucchini and endless other “seedy veg” – can you experts help me please ????

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Comments

 

Congratulations on your first blog!
An interesting topic.

I copied some notes from the internet, so can't be sure they are 100% correct!

Botanically, a tomato is the ovary, together with its seeds, of a flowering plant: therefore it is a fruit or, more precisely, a berry.

This argument has had legal implications in the United States. In 1887, U.S. tariff laws that imposed a duty on vegetables but not on fruits caused the tomato's status to become a matter of legal importance. The U.S. Supreme Court settled the controversy in 1893 by declaring that the tomato is a vegetable.

The vegetable has been designated the state vegetable of New Jersey. Arkansas took both sides by declaring the "South Arkansas Vine Ripe Pink Tomato" to be both the state fruit and the state vegetable in the same law, citing both its culinary and botanical classifications. In 2006, the Ohio House of Representatives passed a law that would have declared the tomato to be the official state fruit, but the bill died when the Ohio Senate failed to act on it. Tomato juice has been the official beverage of Ohio since 1965. A.W. Livingston, of Reynoldsburg, Ohio played a large part in popularizing the tomato in the late 1800s.

Due to the scientific definition of a fruit, the tomato remains a fruit when not dealing with US tariffs. Nor is it the only culinary vegetable that is a botanical fruit: eggplants, cucumbers, and squashes of all kinds (such as zucchini and pumpkins) share the same ambiguity.

Well, that's a start.
Time to get ready for the dog show :o)

26 Sep, 2008

 

Blimey TT (is it politcally correct to say such a word - my English is now in a timewarp!!), I hadn't realised that my little discussion with Napoleon's mum could have had such serious international repercussions in the past.....

Thanks for your info - altho' I can almost guarantee that Napoloen's mum will not be swayed in her convinctions - US tariffs or not !!

Good luck with the dog show ...

26 Sep, 2008

 

Thanks Terry60 ~
I reckon Fred Astaire got it right ~
You say tomato and I say tomato,
You say potato and I say potato.
Tomato, tomato, potato, potato,
Let's call the whole thing off ~

You say pomodoro, and I say pomodoro,
You say patata and I say patata.
Pomodoro, pomodoro, patata, patata...

Something like that....:o)

26 Sep, 2008

 

Do you reckon your alimentary warblings would make the Top 10??

26 Sep, 2008

 

Your English definitely is in timewarp ~
" Alimentary " has now been replaced with a word in more modern usage ~
" melodious." :o)

26 Sep, 2008

 

Yeah but you can't eat or cook with anything melodious

26 Sep, 2008

 

I guess one could cook something melodious ~
cornetto, crumhorn, drumsticks....
but I'm far better out of the kitchen and into the garden :o)

26 Sep, 2008

 

Ever tried "alimentarily" eating and "melodiously" singing at the same time?? Enough of this - we'll be flagged !!

26 Sep, 2008

 

Do you guys know each other? hahahahah...

26 Sep, 2008

 

http://www.comevisit.com/chuckali/definition/index.htm
Hello....toe may toe...toe mah toe
poe tay toe... poe tah toe.... I found this a very interesting discussion...so I looked up the above site...seems relatively succinct...for all the linguists and english majors out there.

27 Sep, 2008

 

He He -PMSL!

30 Sep, 2008

 

Errrr - me being time warped again - but what does PMSL mean ?? !!!!!

1 Oct, 2008

 

Pi**ed Myself Laughing :o)

1 Oct, 2008

 

So glad you told me TT - I'd NEVER have got there meself!!

1 Oct, 2008

 

Aliamentary my dear Watson! sniff...sniff...

1 Oct, 2008

 

Lori ~ very witty.
It seems you're another who's harvested a good crop of brain food. Lol

2 Oct, 2008

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