# My girl was wondering about cucumbers.... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 24, 2003, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794 "2003-04-24T05:24:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/21 "2003-04-24T10:32:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*I can’t believe we keep going over this over and over. \*\* Me neither. Brace yourself for another round of the banana = herb “debate” any time now :rolleyes:. ---
**Author:** ![Dolomite21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Dolomite21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolomite21)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/22 "2003-04-24T10:53:04Z")
and round and round it goes…back to post 2 ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/23 "2003-04-24T11:20:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolomite21 \* > \*\*and round and round it goes…back to post 2 \*\* Except that what you wrote in post 2 contradicted what your link said it was. ---
**Author:** ![chattywine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5daacb/32.png) [@chattywine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chattywine)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/24 "2003-04-24T11:24:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dolomite21 \* > \*\*Ya…and I’m convinced that drinking pickle juice (a couple spoon fulls) clears a stuffy nose \*\* Sweet or dill? ::sniffles:: ---
**Author:** ![Dolomite21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Dolomite21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolomite21)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/25 "2003-04-24T11:24:51Z")
my link said vegetible ‘read it all’ ---
**Author:** ![Dolomite21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Dolomite21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dolomite21)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/26 "2003-04-24T11:26:29Z")
to the ‘sniffles’ its all about vlasic dills…spice number 2 ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/27 "2003-04-24T11:51:46Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DrLiver \* > \*\*Aren’t there ‘natural laws’ that puts everything in its species or grouping or whatever? \*\* Nope. Taxonomy is pretty much a human invention. In many cases there aren’t clear-cut distinctions between species (if one can even agree on what a species really is). ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/28 "2003-04-24T15:22:10Z")
There is no botanical definition of “vegetable”. It is a culinary definition. Therefore, if one is talking about whether or not something is a “fruit” or a “vegetable”, one must ask “How is it prepared and eaten?” Thus, tomatoes and cucumbers are vegetables, not fruits. However, rhubarb is a fruit, not a vegetable… ---
**Author:** ![ashtayk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@ashtayk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashtayk)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/29 "2003-04-24T16:32:25Z")
Dogface, I have to disagree there, there is a botanical definition of the word vegetable evidenced by the term “vegetative reproduction”. This term refers to reproduction in plants that do not use fruits for propogation of the species, like potatoes (stem tuber) and onions (leaf modification), carrots (root tuber). While there may be different connotations to the word “vegetable” like by the US givernment wherein it recognized the tomato as a vegetable, it does not take away the fact that it is still a fruit. Cheers ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/30 "2003-04-24T17:21:37Z")
**ashtayk** , by your reasoning then, all plants are vegetables. Which they are. How’s that for stoking the fire? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/31 "2003-04-24T20:01:02Z")
For perspective: Is lettuce a vegetable, or a leaf? And are carrots a vegetable, or a root? Some vegetables are fruits, some are leaves, some are roots, and others are some other plant part entirely. Why should this be a problem? ---
**Author:** ![Flying\_Monk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/48db29/32.png) [@Flying\_Monk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flying_Monk)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/32 "2003-04-24T22:11:44Z")
How about green peppers? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/33 "2003-04-24T22:20:19Z")
Personally, I’m still wondering about Apple Jacks. ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_The\_Diver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Buck\_The\_Diver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_The_Diver)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/34 "2003-04-25T03:36:27Z")
Cucumber=green sausage. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2003, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794/35 "2003-04-25T11:19:40Z")
My take on it goes like this: “Vegetable” is a very broad category meaning “the edible part of a plant.” That includes roots (carrots,) stems (celery,) leaves (lettuce,) flowers (broccoli,) seed-bearing fruits (apples,) and even the seeds themselves (corn.) Fruit, on the other hand, is a smaller category, a vegetable with seeds inside. Fruits include tomatoes, apples, melons, blueberries, zuchinni, and rye bread. Whoops! Not rye bread. Folks fond of fungi often call mushrooms “fruiting bodies,” but I’m not going to open that Pandora’s can of worms. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-girl-was-wondering-about-cucumbers/170794.md?page=1)