The other day my 8-year-old daughter came home from second grade, flush with the joy of new knowledge: The tomato is actually a fruit. How did she know this? Simple: It has seeds. Foods that have seeds are fruit. Ipso facto, tomato = fruit. This kind of definition-by-reduction is, of course, the source of many great faux-fights on the internet. But is a tomato a fruit? And for that matter, what about cucumbers, eggplants, olives, and pumpkins? Oh my God, is everything but celery basically just fruit? No, of course not. If you order a bowl of fruit salad at a restaurant and any of those appeared in the dish, you'd be (rightfully) upset. Read more... |
