A little test

[swansont]

No, I picked potatoes. Well first I picked a cucumber, but then I remembered that by definition a cucumber is a fruit since it has seeds. Why should I have picked that other vegetable?

Not according to the US Supreme Court (Nix v. Hedden, 1893). For the purposes of import duties and tariffs, etc., tomatoes, cucumbers and other items that are technically fruits are considered vegetables: if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

[Eroica]

if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

What about those slices of fried banana and pineapple they serve with Chicken Maryland?

[NASA Fan]

No, I picked potatoes. Well first I picked a cucumber, but then I remembered that by definition a cucumber is a fruit since it has seeds. Why should I have picked that other vegetable?

Not according to the US Supreme Court (Nix v. Hedden, 1893). For the purposes of import duties and tariffs, etc., tomatoes, cucumbers and other items that are technically fruits are considered vegetables: if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

Wow, cool. Thanks. I never knew that. I now have another piece of trivia share with people.

[NASA Fan]

I tried it on my friend and she did indeed say Carrots. She suggested that it may be because of the number three in all the questions. The number 3 gets planted in your mind, and since "C" is the third letter in the alphabet that might be what causes you to choose a vegetable with "C" and carrots is a very common "C" vegatable. From what I (we) learned from Swansont cucombers are also vegetables, so I also picked something with a "C" so I guess that it also worked on me...sort of.

[swansont]

if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

What about those slices of fried banana and pineapple they serve with Chicken Maryland?

I guess you have to ask a lawyer... :-?

[jokergirl]

if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

What about those slices of fried banana and pineapple they serve with Chicken Maryland?

I guess you have to ask a lawyer... :-?

How about "If it's sweet, it's a fruit, if not, it's a vegetable"? Always worked very well for me.

And I know there are sweet carrot dishes, but I mean in raw state.

[Bawheid]

Vegetables, since they are part of a meal, unless you eat Chicken Maryland for dessert in which case they are fruit.

$200 please.

[Mr. X]

if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

What about that pizza with pineapple on it?

[The Supreme Canuck]

No, I picked potatoes. Well first I picked a cucumber, but then I remembered that by definition a cucumber is a fruit since it has seeds. Why should I have picked that other vegetable?

Not according to the US Supreme Court (Nix v. Hedden, 1893). For the purposes of import duties and tariffs, etc., tomatoes, cucumbers and other items that are technically fruits are considered vegetables: if you eat it with a meal, it's a vegetable. If you eat it for dessert, it's a fruit.

So, tomatoes and cucumbers are vegetables in the USA but fruits everywhere else? Ow. #-o

Added: It looks like 3 is pulling ahead.

[Musashi]

I believe that certain fruits were termed vegetables to avoid tarrifs, or something... Just a story I heard.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Where did you hear that? Was it a court ruling?

[Musashi]

What I meant to say was, that I also don't think that the people 'in the know' in America consider them to be vegetables. It's just some outdated semantics. I also thought it was before 1893...

[The Supreme Canuck]

Oh, well that changes things, then.

You know, I really don't see why it is so hard for people to wrap their brains around this concept. It's a source of constant aggrivation for me.

[Astronot]

I picked one because the poll said to pick it. But I have a bad habit of unquestioningly doing what I am told.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Good thing I didn't say "Pick one" then!

I really could have worded that better.

[Eroica]

Rhubarb?
Dessert = fruit
No seeds = vegetable

(I have way too much free time on my hands)

[informant]

I really could have worded that better.

You can say that again. If you wanted to check whether most people choose number 3, don't you think you souldn't have told them about it?
No one wants to be in a minority.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Okay, I really could have worded that better...

Anyway, that's how the second "little test" came to be. No accidental release of information there!

[jkmccrann]

Boy, this may have gone better in a place where people think less... anyway, looks like the "one" in the question may have skewed the results... whoops. Anyway, three seems to not have won...

Thank you for your participaton and another very strange poll/thread may be on its way.

Actually, last I checked it was winning.

People pick 3 because its a prime number I would say, and indirectly that makes it responsible for luck. ie Third-time Lucky.

1 would also be popular because it signifies being first, or the best. 2 less so, because it signifies being 2nd oviously, but more particularly, in a 2 way contest, it signifies being the loser.

4 I don't have anything.

But on similar poles in picking people's favourite numbers from 1-10, 7 always comes out on top (In Western Nations at least) and 3 is probably almost always 2nd.

In China 8 would proably come out on top I guess, given as how it has lucky qualities.

My favourite 10 numbers, in order (Under 100)
17, 7, 37, 79, 47, 23, 49, 97, 73, 19.

Given my birthday is 17/7/79, some of those numbers shouldn't surprise, but I think my whole thing for primes comes from fascination created by my prime-ific birthday.

[Enzp]

Oh, I didn't vote. Nothing was asked and no answers offered. So I then assumed it was some sort of trick. Like a pull my finger or something, so I didn't want to get involved.

Yes, I have tried the carrot thing many times and it almost always works. Face to face it is harder for someone to mull over the answers than when you can write the answer.

Here is a rapid fire sequence to try on people:

What is the opposite of LEAST? Most
What is another word for BRAG? Boast
Who is in charge of a party? Host
What is another word for SHORE? Coast
What do you put in a TOASTER?





Most of the time they will say "toast." But of course you put BREAD in a toaster, you take out toast.

I grew up in MAryland, and we never had anything called MAryland Chicken, and we surely would not have put bananas on a chicken. When I came to the midwest, I DID hear of Maryland Fried Chicken, which to the midwesterners apparently meant cooking the chicken with bacon fat. Back in MAryland we fried almost everything in bacon fat, but chicken was usually an exception. I still keep a container for bacon drippings in my refrigerator.

Bananas and chicken? Live and learn...


It was not all that long ago that the administration in Washington tried to classify ketchup as a vegetable for purposes of school lunch programs meeting their vegetable requirement.

[Argos]

I picked three. It generally yields interesting combinations in all fields of life.

[farmerjumperdon]

I've got this trick on paper, and some percentage in the 90's pick 3. It's a business card with big block print on one side that says PICK A NUMBER, under which are printed 1, 2, 3, and 4. Nearly everyone picks 3 if you tell them not to think about it and just quickly pick a number. It has to do with the position of 3 in a series of 4.

1 and 4 rarely get picked because they are on the ends, and only a few wierdos pick 2 (can't remember why). Anyway, after they pick, I flip the card over and printed on the other side is ALL PERVERTS PICK 3. I think it is difficult to get the intended result here because people can't be as easily made to pick fast - not to mention this is definitely a crowd that would tend to want to think about it even when told not to.

My daughter loves those little word tricks. The one she gets everybody with is:

Her: Spell silk.
Unsuspecting victim: S - I - L - K.
Her: What do cows drink?







Almost all people say:




Milk.

[Eroica]

Her: Spell silk.
Unsuspecting victim: S - I - L - K.
Her: What do cows drink?

Almost all people say:

Milk.

Cows are mammals. They do drink milk. That's why mummy cows make milk.

[The Supreme Canuck]

Actually, last I checked it was winning.

Ah, but it wasn't two years ago. Looks like there've been more votes since then.

[Argos]

Dang! I didn´t see this was one of those zombie threads...

[The Supreme Canuck]

I wouldn't have noticed, but I was the one who started it... two years ago.

[farmerjumperdon]

Cows are mammals. They do drink milk. That's why mummy cows make milk.

You kinda got me there. Except it's just the calves that drink mommy's milk; the adults (cows) drink water.

[jkmccrann]

I wouldn't have noticed, but I was the one who started it... two years ago.

I just had to make sure you got your due Supreme, your original contention was right, even in this rarefied space. For whatever reason ???