Fruit vs. Vegetable. The big question.

[Tanith]

Fruit. Vegetable.

It all seems very simple. BUT ITS NOT.

The question is...

WHAT, actually, is the distinction between the two?

Think about it.

Its not the seeds. Apples have seeds. So do pumpkins. So thats not it. Its not where they grow. Cucumbers and lettuces grow in shrubs/bushes. So do berries. So that makes no sense.

Then there's all these people that get very passionate about the fact that a TOMATO IS A FRUIT for some reason.

So my question once again is...

WHAT IS THE DISTINCTION?

You're agricultural intelligence is needed here guys.

[Vincent Valentine]

Being Irish, and having lived only a few feet from a farm for most of my younger life, I really should know this...

Let us leave this to someone a lot more intelligent than me to answer.

*goes and whacks himself over the head with a stick for not knowing*

[Psychotic]

Fruit doesn't taste like crap.

(although I suppose this means that pears are vegetables and cucumbers are fruit)

[Shaun]

Sheesh! You really think vegetables are gonna win!? Most vegetables = yuck! 90% of fruit = awesome! <3

[Resha]

Fruit is tasty and mostly not green.

[Meat Puppet]

Fruit's house is the cleanest house vegetable's ever seen.

[Chris]

I like fruit much more than veggies. I don't really hate vegetables that much anymore, if prepared properly, they can taste quite good.

[Shlup]

Pumpkin is a fruit. I looked it up!

[Kawaii Ryûkishi]

Its not the seeds.

Actually, it is.

[Endless]

From http://www.bartleby.com/64/C004/028.html :

If only it were as simple as the difference between apples and oranges. But trying to tell the difference between a fruit and a vegetable often leaves people confused—and often makes guesswork out of complying with the admonition to eat 2–4 servings of fruit and 3–5 servings of vegetables a day. This is because fruit has two meanings—one popular and one scientific. In popular usage, a fruit is a plant part that is eaten as a dessert or a snack because it is sweet. This is why we consider apples and peaches fruit, but not peppers or lentils. But botanically speaking, a fruit is the mature ovary of a plant; it is a self-contained vehicle for reproduction of the type of plant from which it developed. A peach, for example, contains a pit that can sprout a new peach tree, while the seeds known as peas hold the potential for another pea vine. To a botanist, apples, peaches, peppers, peas, and cucumbers are all fruits.
A vegetable is a plant that is grown primarily because it produces an edible part, such as the leaf of spinach, the root of a carrot, the flower of broccoli, or the stalk of rhubarb. By this reasoning, all fruits must come from vegetables. Of course any child knows that we usually make the further distinction that vegetables are by definition not very sweet and are not served for dessert.

[Jess]

Fruit is yummier.

[Sergeant Hartman]

Five fruit a day to keep you going. Yeah. Who eats five fruit a day here?

[Vincent Valentine]

Five fruit a day to keep you going. Yeah. Who eats five fruit a day here?

*raises hand*

Grapes.
An apple.
A banana.
Some cucumber.
And a peach.

[gyaku_zuki]

i exceed the fruit / veg a day thingy, cos im a fit guy (competitive karate needs good bodies :P)

Apples are awesome.
Bananas are brilliant.
Carrots are complete.
Lettuce is lovely.
Oranges are omnipotent(?)
GRAPES ARE THE GREATEST!

[Zeldy]

I love fruit. I could eat Apples all day everday. I also love Salads. I like some vegetables too, I like Broccoli and Cauliflower. I like eating Carrots raw too