# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 7:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/141 "2012-09-13T07:23:23Z")
Getting back to the OP, is it possible that the woman in question knew what carrots and cucumbers are but couldn’t think of the words? This could happen if she had some sort of dementia, possibly from a stroke. When I wear my [Eat More Kale](http://eatmorekale.com/) shirt people sometimes ask me what kale is. ---
**Author:** ![Celan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Celan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celan)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/142 "2012-09-13T08:32:02Z")
I was just going to suggest the same idea, Jeff. She may be recovering from some sort of head injury, stroke, or disease affecting her word recall . ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/143 "2012-09-13T09:33:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > “Capsicum” can catch out British people, too. We just call it a “pepper”, often “green pepper” or “red pepper” as appropriate to distinguish it from the spice. I’ve also heard it called “sweet pepper”, but that’s pretty rare. I doubt the average person in the street would know what a capsicum was, unless they were either a gardener or someone who used a lot of recipes from the internet. Well, to a botanist speaking any language (including any variety of English), _Capsicum_ is the genus for all chiles (peppers), whether sweet or hot. To a south or southeast Asian English speaker, it’s the common name for just a sweet (a.k.a. “bell”) pepper. I’m not sure what they tend to call spicier varieties – “hot pepper”, maybe? Or sometimes “chillis”? – though one spicy variety, the cayenne, is usually just called “cayenne pepper”. So, the first time I heard my Malaysian father-in-law call a bell pepper a “capsicum”, I was impressed with his formal botanical knowledge, until I found out how this all works. Sorry if this was already covered upthread. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/144 "2012-09-13T10:02:45Z")
I find that at the supermarket it is not uncommon to have to identify/ differentiate between a swede, parsnip and turnip to the young person on the checkout. A mature lady serving will normally be right. ---
**Author:** ![QuercusMax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/8baadc/32.png) [@QuercusMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuercusMax)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/145 "2012-09-13T12:08:41Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I find that at the supermarket it is not uncommon to have to identify/ differentiate between a swede, parsnip and turnip to the young person on the checkout. A mature lady serving will normally be right. Here’s another bit of terminology difference: in the US we call it a rutabaga (root-uh-bag-uh), not a swede. I find them delicious mashed, but they take forever to cook. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/146 "2012-09-13T15:26:13Z")
Celery root sometimes causes confusion, too. Some cashiers want to ring it up as a rutabaga/swede or turnip. At stores that have both parsely root and parsnip, those will often cause confusion. I’m surprised anyone gets a turnip or rutabaga confused with a parsnip–they don’t look similar at all. Rutabaga and turnip, I can understand. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/147 "2012-09-13T19:33:39Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > What I thought was weird was on the television show _Chopped_ they had a chef that supposedly didn’t know what Rocky Mountain Oysters were. > > I guess that’s possible, but he didn’t know how to filet a fish either. > > He didn’t win. Not so weird; we call them prairie oysters if you’re referring to bull testes. Very chewy, BTW. sometimes a local name can trip you up, but not knowing what something as common as a carrot in N.America at least is somewhat strange. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/148 "2012-09-13T19:45:18Z")
> [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Best served with soldiers; egg width slices of toast for dipping into said egg in egg cup. Yay! I’m not the only one! My Mom used to make me ‘chucky eggs and soldiers’ when I was young and when I told my wife about it one day she looked at me like I was off my nut! Anyone know why they’re called soldiers? ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/149 "2012-09-13T22:55:20Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Yay! I’m not the only one! My Mom used to make me ‘chucky eggs and soldiers’ when I was young and when I told my wife about it one day she looked at me like I was off my nut! > Anyone know why they’re called soldiers? Cuz they are straight and tall and look like soldiers standing at attention? We only ever ate them with soup. ---
**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 13, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/150 "2012-09-13T23:25:31Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I’m surprised anyone gets a turnip or rutabaga confused with a parsnip–they don’t look similar at all. That’s not why they get confused. They just don’t know which is which. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/151 "2012-09-13T23:43:38Z")
I was in a burrito joint in London last month\*. I asked for some pico. The guy behind the counter looked very confused. I pointed to the mixyure of tomato/onion/cilantro mixture in front of him “Oh, tomatoes!” - tasted as awful as you might imagine ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/152 "2012-09-14T00:31:16Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > That’s not why they get confused. They just don’t know which is which. Ah. I guess I grew up with rutabaga, so it would be difficult for me to confuse the two. Like I said, rutabaga and turnip or celery root I can see. But mixing it up with parsnip is like mixing up a potato and carrot. However, I do understand, it depends on what you’re familiar with. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/153 "2012-09-14T00:48:57Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Celery root sometimes causes confusion, too. Some cashiers want to ring it up as a rutabaga/swede or turnip. At stores that have both parsely root and parsnip, those will often cause confusion. I’m surprised anyone gets a turnip or rutabaga confused with a parsnip–they don’t look similar at all. Rutabaga and turnip, I can understand. Guano Lad clarified this (thanks) but I’d also make the point that parsnips, turnips and what have you are not frequently used- certainly no where near as common as a carrot. Even more so by younger people I would imagine (hey - they don’t serve them with big Macs). ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/154 "2012-09-14T16:54:34Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Yay! I’m not the only one! My Mom used to make me ‘chucky eggs and soldiers’ when I was young and when I told my wife about it one day she looked at me like I was off my nut! > Anyone know why they’re called soldiers? You’re far from alone- you just may be inadvertantly British- it’s a classic kid’s breakfast over here, and I think pretty common in Australia/New Zealand as well. No real idea why they’re called soldiers though. ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/155 "2012-09-14T19:21:44Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > You’re far from alone- you just may be inadvertantly British- it’s a classic kid’s breakfast over here, and I think pretty common in Australia/New Zealand as well. > No real idea why they’re called soldiers though. Oh no, I’m intentionally British (and ancestrally half Scottish, so my lower half is constantly at war with my upper half…:D), my mother was born in Lancashire, in Oakham. She moved to Canad’er in '61 and married my dad a few years later. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/156 "2012-09-15T23:16:50Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > I’ll bet you have some foreign word for [Belgian Endive](http://www.belgianendive.com/) also. The Belgians call it _witloof_; literally, “white leaf”. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/157 "2012-09-16T03:29:37Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Celery root sometimes causes confusion, too. Another geographic difference - i think we call that celeriac. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/158 "2012-09-16T04:10:47Z")
> [@Girl\_From\_Mars](#): > > Another geographic difference - i think we call that celeriac. “Celery root” and “celeriac” are used fairly interchangeably here (Chicago). I don’t actually know what term is more common. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/159 "2012-09-16T09:56:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Celery root” and “celeriac” are used fairly interchangeably here (Chicago). I don’t actually know what term is more common. I’ve noticed a lot of stores get away with not labeling it at all, throwing it over in the “we’re not sure what it is, either” small bins with horseradish, burdock (gobo), parsnips, et al. I’ve got to hunt down a person to look it up and tell me if it’s ten gazillion dollars a pound this week. If it is labeled, I generally see both on the sign, in approximately equal chance of being first: Celery Root Celeriac or Celeriac Celery Root It’s also often labeled Celery or of course Turnips :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Abortion\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@Abortion\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abortion_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230/160 "2012-09-16T19:01:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Celery root” and “celeriac” are used fairly interchangeably here (Chicago). I don’t actually know what term is more common. In France the root is called céleri-rave (rave being French for root) and the stalks céleri-branche. However, the root is often just referred to as céleri - the opposite of what we do in English, where if you say “celery” pretty much everyone will think of the stalks first, or only think of the stalks, not the root at all. It was amusing when I worked in a bar when celery stalks were part of several drinks. If a new employee, a native English speaker learning French, wasn’t pre-warned about this distinction they’d often call in the produce order and ask for “céleri” and not specify the “branche” part. The next day you’d end up with a giant celery root in the order… not very useful for cocktail making! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-lady-at-a-restaurant-didnt-know-what-carrots-or-cucumbers-were/634230.md?page=9)