• TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldM
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    3 days ago

    I’m willing to grant you the distinctions between goats and true goats, in deference to the science of biology.

    Well that’s my point: this post is about how common names contrast with actual, rigid taxonomical definitions. :p

    Like the colloquial word “goat” fits, but your comment read to me, given the context of the post, like you were saying goats can exist outside Capra via a technical definition, which isn’t true.

      • TheTechnician27@lemmy.worldM
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        3 days ago

        True in that it’s a fruit botanically and a vegetable culinarily (or, less arbitrarily for the latter, that it’s a part of a plant consumed for food).

        A carrot, as another fun example, is a root botanically, a vegetable culinarily, and, in the European Union, a fruit legally as a carve-out for laws about making jams.

        • mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works
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          2 days ago

          Same with peppers, zucchini, and all forms of squash.

          Also, strawberries aren’t fruit, botanically speaking because the seeds aren’t inside

    • schipelblorp@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Yes, we don’t disagree on the biology… I’m just emphasizing the nature of colloquial language as a crowdsourced effort and distinguishing it from the technical rigors of taxonomy.