What’s a common “fact” that’s spread around that’s actually not true and pisses you off that too many people believe it?

  • trem@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 day ago

    The old “tomatoes are not a vegetable” is pretty frustrating. They are a vegetable.

    In botanical terms, the concept of a vegetable does not exist, which is where tomatoes are classified as fruits. But in culinary terms, vegetables do exist and tomatoes are classified as such.

    I just find it frustrating, because I believed that garbage myself at some point, and I thought, I was smart for knowing that.
    Just one of those examples that you can easily spread misinformation, so long as you make it sound plausible.

    • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      In culinary arts vegetables are the non-sweet edible parts of plants (not fruit). So no, they are not a vegetable.

      What is true is people call them a vegetable.

      • paraplu@piefed.social
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        19 hours ago

        Other sweet plant parts are also considered culinary vegetables: carrots, squash, red peppers, sweet potatoes, fennel, and onions.

        Some of them you do have to cook to perceive as sweet, but non-sweet doesn’t seem to be a good dividing line. Striving for non-overlapping categories instead of just accepting the mess seems like a mistake.

        • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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          11 hours ago

          I will accept these are also not vegetables in the culinary sense as well. Looks like you have single handedly eliminate a bunch of vegetables, congratulations.

          • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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            10 hours ago

            Ok, so what about peas? Or cabbage? Artichokes? What’s the specific cut off for being too sweet to be a vegetable?

            • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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              10 hours ago

              If it is sweet and is a berry/fruit like a tomato then it is not a vegetable. I am personally not having a hard time with this. Not sweet = vegetable. Sweet = debatable.

              • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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                10 hours ago

                Hold on, it didn’t need to be a berry/fruit earlier, does that mean carrots and sweet potatoes are vegetables after all?

                You know what, let’s try this the other way around: could you name specific examples of things you consider vegetables? Because we’ve named quite a lot now and you don’t seem to consider any of them vegetables.

                • Doomsider@lemmy.world
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                  9 hours ago

                  I am literally going off the culinary definition which is related to taste. If it is sweet it is a good chance it is a berry or fruit of the plant and not the vegetable matter.

                  • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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                    6 hours ago

                    Wait I got a better one: if carrots and sweet potatoes aren’t vegetables why are they called root vegetables?

                  • Simon_Shitewood@lemmy.ml
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                    6 hours ago

                    Well no, you’re switching between multiple definitions, none of which have ever been used culinarily, but more importantly, can you not name a vegetable? Are beans a vegetable?

      • wieson@feddit.org
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        20 hours ago

        There are vegetables where you eat the root.
        There are vegetables where you eat the leaves.
        There are vegetables where you eat the stem.
        But for cucumbers, pumpkins, aubergine and paprika you eat the fruit, why should the tomato be different?