this post was submitted on 11 Oct 2024
777 points (97.9% liked)

Science Memes

11408 readers
1802 users here now

Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!

A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.



Rules

  1. Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
  2. Keep it rooted (on topic).
  3. No spam.
  4. Infographics welcome, get schooled.

This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.



Research Committee

Other Mander Communities

Science and Research

Biology and Life Sciences

Physical Sciences

Humanities and Social Sciences

Practical and Applied Sciences

Memes

Miscellaneous

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] xantoxis 78 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (3 children)

This feels like a case where botanical science should just have picked a different name. If you invalidate everything people think of as a berry and then tell them a dozen things that are clearly not berries are, in fact, berries, you're just making the word berry meaningless.

Berry means a tiny, usually sweet, fruit-like growth from a plant. The kind that is usually picked in bunches. The kind that you use to make smoothies. That's a berry.

Botany did us all a disservice by choosing the word "berry" to mean "a specific thing which invalidates everything you think is a berry." Just call that plant structure something in Latin, ffs.

[–] JayObey711 27 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Well, cooking terms and botany terms are not the same. Any non reproductive part of a plant is vegetable. But in cooking we have a completely different idea of what vegetables are.

This really doesn't matter because most people are not botanists and those who are probably know the terms. The only people that care are quirky internet people with debates about weather or not potato salad should be considered a cake or something.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

"Weather" is a nice ultimate touch

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

They did. It's Baca. Which means berry. Or maybe cow. Naming stuff is hard

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Naming would be easier if we collectively review the names every few years and retire the BS.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.

[–] xantoxis 2 points 2 months ago

Knowledge is knowing the common definition of fruit doesn't include tomato.