[soc.motss] Tomatoes, Fruit or Vegetable.

mgdlin@beryl.berkeley.edu (Gary D. Lindsay) (09/19/86)

In article <1886@shark.UUCP> ronba@shark.UUCP (Ron Bates) writes:
>>
>
>I've read that a tomato is a fruit until it is cooked, when it is then
>a vegetable.  Does it really matter?
>
>If this definition is correct, then zucchini, pumpkins, green beans, chilies,
>and corn are fruits while seedless grapes are a vegetable!
>
>Some how this doesn't sound right.

The whole problem here is one of perspective.  A tomato is a
fruit to the botanist, and a vegetable to the greengrocer.
Neither position is intrinsically right or wrong - only in con-
text can we evaluate.

(I could go into a discussion of linguistic/cultural perceptions of
color, as well:  suffice it to say where you stand on an issue depends
on where you sit.)

As far as this relating to motss: our perspectives are valid
to us.  Unfortunately, many in the 90% minority deny the
validity of our perspectives.  One man's making love is
another's perversion.

Let's send the tomato controversy to net.tower.babel or
/dev/null.


Gary
mgdlin@beryl.berkeley.edu

manis@ubc-cs.UUCP (09/22/86)

In article <1993@mtgzy.UUCP> ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (e.c.leeper) writes:
>At the risk of sounding tacky, has it occurred to anyone besides me that this
>discussion of "what is a fruit?" in this newsgroup is, shall we say, odd? :-)

For those familiar with the geography of Vancouver, there is a district
called Kitsilano which was popular with hippies (remember them?), and has
now been yuppified. There is another district called the West End which
has a lot of gay people. The two are separated by a body of water called
False Creek (because it isn't a creek).

The following dialogue was quite popular a few years ago:

   Q: "What's the purpose of the Burrard Bridge?"
   A: "To keep the fruits and vegetables apart."

I guess you had to be there.

ecl@mtgzy.UUCP (e.c.leeper) (09/28/86)

At the risk of sounding tacky, has it occurred to anyone besides me that this
discussion of "what is a fruit?" in this newsgroup is, shall we say, odd? :-)

					Evelyn C. Leeper
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Silly is a state of Mind; Stupid is a way of Life.