Why the ever-loving fiddle-dee-dee is it called “iceberg”?
Because it’s crispy and watery and usually presented chilled.
It’s just a variety name (or rather, I think, a collective name for a group of lettuce varieties, when they are grown, harvested and stored in a specific manner).
Vegetable variety names get a lot weirder than ‘iceberg’. Why are these radishes called ‘French Breakfast’? They are not a thing commonly eaten for breakfast in France.
Cool, crunchy, white, and not a lot of flavor.
Etymonline says:
“ Iceberg lettuce attested from 1893, apparently originally a trade name.”
But that may be kicking the can. Why was it a trade name? It’s crisp and cool like an iceberg? The name has always seemed appropriate to me.
Iceberg lettuce is called that because it was traditionally shipped covered in heaps of crushed ice. This practice gave the lettuce a look resembling icebergs. The lettuce was previously known as Crisphead lettuce.
I can believe that but do you have a cite?
One claim is from the way it was shipped on trains, covered in ice to preserve it, starting in the 20s. But, as noted by @pulykamell, it was called ‘iceberg’ lettuce long before that, so the name origin is unclear.
Commonly, it’s claimed that the name derives from the practice of vacuum-chilling these lettuce varieties, which is apparently a much more rapid method of chilling them and is partly responsible for the crisp texture.
Agree. Plus it’s rather anemic when it comes to nutritional value. Romaine is much better. And spinach is better than either, IMO.
But nothing hits like iceberg in the right context. It undeservedly gets a bad rap, IMHO. I don’t rely on salad greens for any significant portion of my nutrition, anyway. And I ain’t putting spinach on my Italian sub because it’s marginally “healthier” when I want that contrasting crunch and coolness.
Agreed - there are times when I do actually want a salad to be ‘leafy’, but iceberg excels when I want ‘cool and crisp and juicy’
Probably because, when you purchase a salad, although it may look hearty, seven eighths of it will turn out to be lettuce.
‘Lettuce’ was the answer to a radio show call-in trivia question I heard years ago: “What is the only vegetable only ever eaten fresh-- never cooked, frozen or canned”.
Cooked lettuce is a thing; it’s actually surprisingly good char-grilled and there are cooked lettuce soups.
Yeah grilled lettuce and wilted lettuce (with bacon, in soups, as a salad) is definitely a thing. I’ve grilled iceberg and used romaine in Asian soups.
Also
It’s a specific variety of lettuce grown for its succulent stalk, but it’s canned lettuce.
Man…I spent the last 40 years thinking that this originated from a brand name. I could have sworn we used to get lettuce from the Iceberg company back when I worked in the restaurant biz!
That said, iceberg lettuce is on my top ten list of favorite foods in the universe. It’s required fare on a hamburger or chicken sammich, and I like to mix it with baby romaine and spinach when tossing salads.
I guess if lettuce is defined as served in a salad? Or as iceberg? Because I’ve eaten grilled endive for example. Other than iceberg most are also served cooked. And looks like others have noted the same by the time I posted this!
I personally do enjoy a good wedge salad with blue cheese in an old school Italian restaurant. But I don’t pretend it is anything other than tasty.
Perfect for a lettuce wrap (especially with some spicy meat inside)
I stand corrected 
Well, technically, I didn’t claim that it was true; only that I heard it said as a trivia question, but I did believe it enough to post that. I was not aware that lettuce, at least iceberg lettuce specifically, was ever served any way but raw and fresh.
Next time I grill, gonna have to throw a big wedge of iceberg on the grill and try it out!