# A lady at a restaurant didn't know what carrots or cucumbers were. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230 "2012-09-09T21:15:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/21 "2012-09-10T07:56:35Z")
> [@Maserschmidt](#): > > Of course, I once brought clementines to a Cub Scout meeting, and most of the kids were unfamiliar with them…anything’s possible. I’m 55, and clementine is a new one on me. I thought you were talking about cookies or something similar. I had to look it up to learn that it is a variety of orange. The only Clementine I had previously been familiar with was the song “Oh, My Darling Clementine.” Of course, if I had seen them, I would have recognized them as mandarin oranges. I just never knew them by that name. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/22 "2012-09-10T08:18:12Z")
I was a high school physics teacher, and was going through a problem where a cherry pit had been thrown out of a car window. One student pipes up half way through solving the problem, “What is a cherry pit, anyway?” I polled that class and the rest of my classes that day… not a SINGLE student knew what a cherry pit was. Furthermore, one of my brighter students reasoned out semantically that a cherry pit was a hole where cherry trees were planted. Another student pointed out that you couldn’t throw a hole in the ground out the window of a car. Never, EVER underestimate what people don’t know. I even had a few students argue with me that cherries even had seeds inside them. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/23 "2012-09-10T08:33:02Z")
> [@Savannah](#): > > This is off-topic, but you just broke my heart. Sorry! They’re doing very well now 🙂 And although it was sad, it was actually really happy to be able to teach them about food, and tell them that yes, breakfast happens every day!! They’re suitably fattened up now, doing well in school, happy, healthy, beautiful kids. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/24 "2012-09-10T09:43:23Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > I once had to identity zucchini and mangetout peas for the girl at the checkout. mangetout is a type of pea? I thought it was “man get out” ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/25 "2012-09-10T10:15:09Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > My supermarket sells celery by the bunch, half bunch and single stalk which is good, as we only really need 1-2 stalks a week and wouldn’t use a whole bunch. I wish my grocery stores did that. I either have to waste celery, plan a very celery-heavy set of meals for the week, or buy chopped celery from the salad bar at a huge markup. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/26 "2012-09-10T10:49:30Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > Ok, I had to look that up. > > Ah courgette, we have that growing in our garden. Wierd, I have never heard it called zucchini before. More Italians than Frenchfolk in Melbourne 😉 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/27 "2012-09-10T11:14:13Z")
In the Caribbean, the first time I saw stuffed christophine on a menu I thought it was an animal. My gf had to explain that it is a local term for chayote, a type of gourd. Now it is a favorite of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/28 "2012-09-10T11:19:39Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > More Italians than Frenchfolk in Melbourne 😉 Zucchini is the American term for it as well. > [@Hampshire](#): > > Had some fish tacos in SanFran a few weeks back that had some odd cubed item in them that was the texture of diced apples or potatoes. Tasted bland and was more of a filler. I had no idea what it was. > Checked the restaurants website later and found it to be jicama. Didn’t care for it. I like jicama, but typically eat it raw, julienned in some kind of salad. Not sure I’d like it in the way you described. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/29 "2012-09-10T11:24:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I’m 55, and clementine is a new one on me. I thought you were talking about cookies or something similar. I had to look it up to learn that it is a variety of orange. The only Clementine I had previously been familiar with was the song “Oh, My Darling Clementine.” Of course, if I had seen them, I would have recognized them as mandarin oranges. I just never knew them by that name. We pronounce it Clementeen in England and it’s not quite the same as a Mandarin. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/30 "2012-09-10T11:29:58Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > mangetout is a type of pea? I thought it was “man get out” No better thread to discover that in! Wasabi wasabi, everyone was going on about it. When I finally tasted it I exclaimed - but this is horseradish! Not quite the same I know but I still felt ripped off! ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/31 "2012-09-10T11:37:18Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Wasabi wasabi, everyone was going on about it. When I finally tasted it I exclaimed - but this is horseradish! Not quite the same I know but I still felt ripped off! The real stuff is fairly distinct from horseradish - not as “hot”, different flavor - but the vast majority of the wasabi most places will have is tinted horseradish. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/32 "2012-09-10T11:46:42Z")
A few years ago, someone had brought some sweets in to the office to share, and some of them were ginger-flavoured. After looking at them doubtfully for a while, one of my co-workers asked me, “What does ginger taste like?” I still can’t quite imagine how anyone could reach their mid-twenties in the UK without ever tasting ginger. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/33 "2012-09-10T11:52:15Z")
I know a 20-year-old who didn’t recognize a mix of peppers and onions (grilled for fajitas). He was raised and homeschooled, if you can call it that, by a strange little woman who identified corn as a fruit and, at 30, didn’t know how to scramble an egg. I think she still doesn’t know how to cook anything and has never offered him anything but fast food or packaged reheated stuff from the store. He was fascinated by my husband’s massive garden. I’m not sure he knew that food could grow in the dirt. It’s a mad world. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/34 "2012-09-10T11:57:22Z")
> [@And\_his\_buzzer\_goes](#): > > Ok, I had to look that up. > > Ah courgette, we have that growing in our garden. Wierd, I have never heard it called zucchini before. I’ll bet you have some foreign word for [Belgian Endive](http://www.belgianendive.com/) also. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/35 "2012-09-10T12:06:38Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > mangetout is a type of pea? I thought it was “man get out” Everybody falls the first time. ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/36 "2012-09-10T12:12:39Z")
Some people enjoy being intentionally vague and dense with the help just to being in a momentary position of superiority. “Sweetie, you get paid to puzzle out my order in whatever terms I choose to phrase it. And isn’t it cute that I’m a silly old dear who doesn’t realize those are carrots and cucumbers? Why, I’m far too well-off to do my own cooking anymore; I can hardly be bothered to identify raw ingredients.” ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/37 "2012-09-10T12:31:16Z")
I was helping set up a fruit and vegetable bar at an elementary school. We had raw jicama and one little boy was being so debonaire in explaining to all his friends who didn’t know what it was: “That’s Jickama… Didn’t you ever eat Jickama?” He knew his veg. but needed to work on his Spanish accent. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/38 "2012-09-10T12:47:07Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > mangetout is a type of pea? I thought it was “man get out” naw - it’s an SDMB poster! ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/39 "2012-09-10T12:59:42Z")
> [@kayT](#): > > I was helping set up a fruit and vegetable bar at an elementary school. We had raw jicama and one little boy was being so debonaire in explaining to all his friends who didn’t know what it was: “That’s Jickama.. Didn’t you ever eat Jickama?” He knew his veg. but needed to work on his Spanish accent. I’d be high fiveing him and offering him first crack at the cherry tomatoes! Yes, lots of my daughter’s friends don’t recognize whole vegetables. They know them only cut up and/or cooked. I’m not sure if it’s because their parents buy everything prepared, or if they’re not allowed in the kitchen while dinner is being made. I got a kick out of one of ‘em at a party, who, seeing me take a couple of regular ol’ carrots out of the fridge to cut into carrot sticks, exclaimed, “Holy cow!” (yes, really, that’s how she talks; she’s adorable) “That’s the biggest baby carrot I’ve ever SEEN!!!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/40 "2012-09-10T13:04:20Z")
Is this where I brag about how last night my three year old and one year old ate steak, kale, and quinoa for dinner? My three year olds favorite food is edamame, well that or goldfish crackers, you can’t win 'em all. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=3)