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[robinbloke]

And the heavyweight fruit champion, after six falls, two bruises, three submissions and a pizza... the olive.

Ewww.

Comments

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

It contains seeds, therefore it's a fruit.

[robinbloke.livejournal.com]

You tell 'im!

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

See the angle I'm coming from in the original post.

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

Which is, frankly, wrong. A chestnut does not contain seeds, it is a seed. Olives and all other fruits contain seeds, which is why they're fruits. Carrots do not contain seeds, which is why they're vegetables, and chestnuts are seeds, which is why they're nuts.

So I'm with robinbloke and the dictionaries on this one.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

OK, chestnut might have been a bad example, but what would you call the spiky green thing that contains the chestnut? That'll be the fruit, won't it? And that's what I was referring to.

It's just strange that two languages define the same thing differently - or rather, one language defines it more detailed than the other, using two different words (see earlier explanation).

Conclusion: We're both right.
The olive is the fruit of the olive tree but I don't think it's classified as belonging to the food group fruit (which is generally sweet, not pungent).

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

To the bitter end... :)

Actually, given the label 'fruit' only really applies to edible stuff, spiky green inedible casing doesn't count a fruit. And edible seed without spiky green casing is a nut.

And using another language is cheating. We're talking in English at the moment, and defining what an olive is by English definitions. Which I'll freely admit may not be perfect, but according to English dictionaries, the olive is classed as a fruit.

And as for sweet - lemons aren't sweet, yet contain seeds. There's a Thai fruit (the name of which escapes me now) which trust me takes the word 'pungent' to heights you can't even imagine without experiencing it; it's so bad it's actually often banned on public transport, yet the Thais love it. But hey, they also eat cicadas... but anyway... it's not by any Western definition 'sweet' but it is a fruit. Because it contains seeds.

Seeing a pattern yet? :)

And if it's not in the food group 'fruit', what is it?

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

*raises hands*

Consider me beaten. :o)

I have no idea what category to put olives in.
hat are capers? Vegetables?

[nisaba.livejournal.com]

*grins* capers.... are yummy :)

[keirf.livejournal.com]

Capers are the pickled buds of flowers. So they're not fruit. But chillis are fruit.

[keirf.livejournal.com]

That will be a durian fruit.

What about tomatoes? I guess they're fruit, as are zucchinis and cucumbers.