# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/81 "2012-09-10T23:58:07Z")
I thought it was best to keep things simple. ---
**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 11, 2012, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/82 "2012-09-11T00:23:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Soft boiled - Cooked whole, in shell, so that the white solidifies, but the yolk is liquid Best served with soldiers; egg width slices of toast for dipping into said egg in egg cup. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/83 "2012-09-11T00:35:48Z")
> [@control-z](#): > > Thanks. When the guy said hard pack I was thinking how dense the tobacco was packed within the paper in each cigarette. How should I know, I don’t smoke. The point is some things considered common knowledge aren’t necessarily needed or known by everyone. I still don’t know what “over easy” means. Do you interact with people? Read? Watch TV? Obviously, you have ordered eggs in a restaurant. Do you notice what is going on around you? It’s not esoteric knowledge. ---
**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 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/84 "2012-09-11T00:45:14Z")
As a non-smoker, the thing I didn’t know about smoking was how many cigarettes were in a pack (until I Googled it). I had to ask patients about their smoking habits; the questionnaire specified how many cigarettes per day, on average, and the patients would reply with “a pack a day/a half pack a day.” :smack: ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/85 "2012-09-11T00:45:15Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Hard pack is nice because your smokes don’t get bent and crushed if you keep your pack in your pocket. > > Soft pack is nice because, while it contains the same number of cigarettes as a hard pack, one always “hides” in the corner, so just when you think you’re out, you find the last one like a special gift from the tobacco gods. 😉 > WhyNot, > former smoker Yeah, but soft packs don’t close, so cigarettes get shredded and you get tobacco fuzz in the bottom of your purse. MsRobyn Fellow former smoker ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/86 "2012-09-11T00:47:33Z")
I don’t eat fruit or vegetables, so I might struggle with recognising anything outside of the most common ten or so of each. And some things are regional, very popular in some countries but barely seen in others. Plus there are different names for the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/87 "2012-09-11T00:52:02Z")
> [@MsRobyn](#): > > Yeah, but soft packs don’t close, so cigarettes get shredded and you get tobacco fuzz in the bottom of your purse. > > MsRobyn > Fellow former smoker True dat. I hate reaching into an old purse from the back of my closet and ending up with tobacco bits under my fingernails. _shudder_ ---
**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 11, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/88 "2012-09-11T00:52:36Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Soft pack is nice because, while it contains the same number of cigarettes as a hard pack, one always “hides” in the corner, so just when you think you’re out, you find the last one like a special gift from the tobacco gods. 😉 > WhyNot, > former smoker But isn’t that last cig turned upside-down?😃 Kayaker Never smoked tobacco, but heard this somewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/89 "2012-09-11T00:58:17Z")
Tangentially related but I used to help run a local youth outdoors group. One of the camps was 10 days in central New South Wales. About 30 15-17 year old’s both male & female. They do all their own cooking etc while there. One of the most common injuries we had one year was cut fingers because we had a bunch of kids who didn’t know how to use a potato peeler. [(pic)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Potato_Peeler_001.jpg) 😕 A few kids were very good cooks but a suprising number (mostly boys but a few girls) could barely turn out something edible. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/90 "2012-09-11T01:29:59Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I don’t eat fruit or vegetables. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/91 "2012-09-11T01:44:41Z")
> [@kushiel](#): > > Your mom has made fried eggs with a runny yolk for you every Sunday morning since you were a kid. You have no reason to know how to order it, you just ask your mom to make you eggs and she knows what you want. I can never remember what the names for the types of eggs I like are - I order them in restaurants so rarely. Although I speak French fluently enough to work as a translator, I have a few gaps in my functional vocabulary from time to time. The most common time they manifest is in the hardware store, but I went through a period of ordering eggs whatever way the waitress offered because I didn’t know the names for any of the styles. For the record, at least in Quebec, tourné is over easy, miroir is sunny side up, poché is poached, brouillé is scrambled, mollet is soft-boiled and dur is hard-boiled. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/92 "2012-09-11T01:58:02Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Black (no sugar or cream) > With or without sugar > With or without cream (or other milk product) It’s not that simple. Your basic shot is expresso. Add milk and it’s latte. Add chocolate and it’s mocha. Something else about adding hot water and milk foam. Do they have different types of coffee beans as well? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/93 "2012-09-11T02:01:35Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > It’s not that simple. Your basic shot is expresso. Add milk and it’s latte. Add chocolate and it’s mocha. Something else about adding hot water and milk foam. Do they have different types of coffee beans as well? That’s a completely different situation. If a waiter is asking you “How would you like your coffee?” that’s not the level of complexity that is expected. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/94 "2012-09-11T02:15:45Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > mangetout is a type of pea? I thought it was “man get out” Same here. I just Googled it and mangetout realy is a type of pea. I’ve always thought that **Mangetout** was “Man get out”. Here’s a discussion of his or her name: [Mangetout - Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=430304) After reading that, he or she is either named after a type of pea, or a purveyor of skin diseases, I still can’t figure it out. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/95 "2012-09-11T02:23:22Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Poached - cooked in liquid, usually water. (Apparently, not in India, though.) Yeah, in India, you’d have to specify “water poached.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/96 "2012-09-11T10:57:34Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > Do you want room left for milk/cream. That’s what I would have guessed, but a barista saying “Room?” would certainly give me pause - and I drink quite a lot of coffee. Where have you heard this said? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/97 "2012-09-11T10:59:57Z")
At pretty much any espresso bar. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/98 "2012-09-11T11:07:28Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > At pretty much any espresso bar. OK. Ignorance fought. It doesn’t seem to be part of the lingo in the UK - or perhaps I never hear it because I usually specify “white” when I’m ordering. ---
**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 11, 2012, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/99 "2012-09-11T11:14:44Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > That’s what I would have guessed, but a barista saying “Room?” would certainly give me pause - and I drink quite a lot of coffee. Where have you heard this said? I’ve never heard it, but my typical order includes the adjective “black”. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2012, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/100 "2012-09-11T11:30:52Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > OK. Ignorance fought. It doesn’t seem to be part of the lingo in the UK - or perhaps I never hear it because I usually specify “white” when I’m ordering. > [@kayaker](#): > > I’ve never heard it, but my typical order includes the adjective “black”. At most coffee houses/espresso bars in the United States, if you’re ordering regular drip coffee, you are expected to add the cream and sugar on your own, so baristas don’t want to know whether you want it black or white. They just want to know if you want room. Even at a diner or restaurant where you are being served at your table, you might ask for black coffee, but if you want cream and sugar, you just ask for cream and sugar and it will be brought to you to add it yourself. You don’t ask for “white” coffee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=6)