[2011-Dec-28] Tomatoes ARE a fruit!

[Tom S. Fox]

http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db ... 2475#comic

Number 3 is actually correct. In botany, which is a branch of biology, tomatoes are considered a fruit. In fact, the term “vegetable” isn’t even used in botany because it is virtually meaningless. So, yes, biologically, tomatoes are a fruit, not a vegetable.

[DonRetrasado]

I don't like you.

[mszegedy-ere-activation]

Yes, but it doesn't make sense to say "BIOLOGICALLY". It's all semantics; "fruit" and "vegetable" are meaningless constructs (they're actually a LEGAL construct: a fruit is "an edible plant that can be used to decorate a table" or something of the sort in America (or was it Britain?). I'm not kidding. Either way, you can see what bullshit it is.

I may not know much about quantum chromodynamics, but I believe that the electrons with the corresponding color charge actually emit a slightly higher frequency wave than they are named for. Like, a violet electron emits a wave closer to ultraviolet really.

[DonRetrasado]

I REALLY don't like you.

[Guest]

Tomatoes are berries.

[Editer]

(That's me up above; didn't realize I wasn't logged in. If anyone cares. Sorry.)

[none]

Fruit is the tissue of an angiosperm flower that, once developed to maturity, covers the seed(s).

So.. botanically/biologically, tomatoes are fruit, and there can be no discussion about it. Sorry.
So are cucumbers, many kinds of nuts (when the shell is included) and most berries (excluding e.g. juniper berries, as they're not angiosperms). But in a strict interpretation, pineapple is not a fruit, as it's composed of the entire inflorescence.

[vhsaddict]

Everyone: shut up. This discussion is stupid and this is the worst comic we've had since that lottery ticket one.

That Mandelbot one was pretty "eh" too.

But hey! Yesterdays comic! That was pretty good huh?

[DonRetrasado]

Tomatoes are berries.

Everyone: shut up. This discussion is stupid and this is the worst comic we've had since that lottery ticket one.

That Mandelbot one was pretty "eh" too.

But hey! Yesterdays comic! That was pretty good huh?

You are okay.

[Guest]

Every time I visit the forum, I get really disappointed, because it's just a bunch of people saying they hate the comic. But I had to this time, because this one... really sucks? Is it just a semantics joke? I'm under the impression Amazons were said to remove a breast. So it's just the fact that some dumb guy said historically instead of... traditionally? Mythologically? (Word filter don't like that last one.) And, I mean, the Civil War one is just hyperbole, not even really that wrong. Or is the comic really telling me I'm a dumb sack of shit?

[Guest]

Using the qualifier biologically, a tomato is, indeed a fruit. The point of the statement is that people who correct people calling tomatoes vegetables are idiots because, for culinary purposes, a tomato is indeed considered a vegetable.

[DonRetrasado]

This is not happening.

[Ogtfo]

You didn't quite get it.

Of course, botanically speaking, a tomato is a fruit. That's not the joke.

This is the point : Many vegetables are technically fruits. Eggplant, pepper, tomatoes, etc. The term "vegetable" has no scientific meaning. It is a culinary (and legal construct). The botanical term "fruit" and the culinary/legal term "vegetable" are not mutually exclusive.

That's the joke, as I got it at least. People who say "technically a tomato is a fruit" fail to understand what "vegetable" means.

Further reading on the subject :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetable#Terminology

[Lethal Interjection]

Ahahahah.


You suck.

[Edminster]

Reopening this thread for a Very Good Reason so if you would all just Please Trust Me and continue on with your business.