# Unusual (to me) food name

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 4, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331 "2013-08-04T16:12:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![legalsnugs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@legalsnugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/legalsnugs)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/61 "2013-08-07T19:00:16Z")

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I know what it is NOW, but I never heard of it until we moved to Europe.

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**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/62 "2013-08-09T05:59:12Z")

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I knew it was arugula, because I have several cookbooks that refer to it by both names. I hadn’t even heard of the Obama arugula controversy until I read this thread. It seems like a non-event to me, since I’ve grown up calling this salad green arugula. Then again, I live in Los Angeles and learned English from them libruls. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Fluke54](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@Fluke54](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluke54)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/63 "2013-08-09T06:04:59Z")

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I know what it is, mostly from cookbooks.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/64 "2013-08-09T15:40:21Z")

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> [@BigT](#):
>
> It was invariably called “salad rocket” or otherwise delineated.

“Salad rocket” sounds like a device akin to the salad shooter.

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**Author:** ![Cartoonacy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/848f3c/32.png) [@Cartoonacy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartoonacy)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/65 "2013-08-09T15:54:17Z")

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I’ve often seen it advertised in supermarket flyers as “rocket lettuce,” but never just “rocket.” Still, that’s what I assumed the OP was referring to.

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**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\
**Post date:** [August 9, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/66 "2013-08-09T17:01:57Z")

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> [@BigT](#):
>
> That was the other thing I noticed looking up the concept online. It was invariably called “salad rocket” or otherwise delineated. In fact, when I googled “rocket leafy green”, I originally got _Diplotaxis tenuifolia_, a completely different plant called “wall rocket.”
> 
> Then again, this game put up a picture of potato wedges but just called them wedges. So that sort of thing seems to be _de rigor_.

I’ve seen it referred to as just rocket many times.

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