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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To wonder why.. (brace yourself)

696 replies

BackAgainSlimLady · 24/02/2025 12:29

Single cucumbers from the supermarket come wrapped in plastic.. but single courgettes don’t?

if you ask me.. courgettes have a slightly more fragile skin that cucumber.. so why the lack of protection?

OP posts:
pearbottomjeans · 24/02/2025 14:19

RaininSummer · 24/02/2025 13:08

They are courgettes. We are not in America or Italy etc

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We’re not in France either to be fair 😄 Americans use Italian word (as they all claim to be Italian (or Irish) - and Aussies apparently! - and we use the French!

UniqueMaker · 24/02/2025 14:19

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

Courgette

MegTheForgetfulCat · 24/02/2025 14:18

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:11

I'm loving this thread. It's the perfect thread to link to when people say there is no anti American sentiment on MN.

I'll continue to watch posters humiliate themselves for the chance to get the uppity "American"😂.

Tbf the Aussie poster's first reply did come across as a little rude (and then there was some doubling down) so I think that is what has rattled some people's chains.

ExcessiveNumberOfNinjas · 24/02/2025 14:18

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 13:33

For the fourth time, I'm not American, it is interesting you ass'ume I am, @TagSplashMaverick .

Also no, it isn't. it's is POSSESSIVE. ie it is. Otherwise its is fine.

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Er...no it isn't. It is as a contraction is it's.

Its as a possessive is its. No apostrophe.

I realise I am probably the eighth person to point this out by the time I've (contraction there, see?) hit send, but I can't (whoops there's another one, and another) let it lie.

ErrolTheDragon · 24/02/2025 14:18

Wtf? Who doesn’t know what a courgette is?

At least one poster from Down Under, and probably also some Americans,

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:18

And to answer the actual OP!

I think courgettes/zucchini are a bit sturdier internally (regardless of skin) and last for two years until I can be bothered to cook the dinner that healthy me planned and real me can't face.

Cucumbers don't last long at all

Finallydoingit24 · 24/02/2025 14:16

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

Wtf? Who doesn’t know what a courgette is?

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:15

TagSplashMaverick · 24/02/2025 13:40

Americans call scones ‘biscuits’ too. Absolutely moronic. 😂 (I have American family before anyone comes at me).

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Comes at you for what?

Xenophobia or for using a term like moronic?

Is having American family similar to "I've got a black friend"?

ErrolTheDragon · 24/02/2025 14:15

Noodlie · 24/02/2025 14:13

One for the Aussies - why capsicum and not red/green/yellow pepper? And which do Americans use?

Bell pepper

ErrolTheDragon · 24/02/2025 14:15

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:11

I'm loving this thread. It's the perfect thread to link to when people say there is no anti American sentiment on MN.

I'll continue to watch posters humiliate themselves for the chance to get the uppity "American"😂.

And also a prime example of what happens when people don't RTFT.

Cancel the check you bought the zucchini with?Grin

LatteLady · 24/02/2025 14:13

Cucumbers and plastic, remove them from the plastic and place them in a glass of water, makes them last much longer. For pity's sake do not put them in the fridge as they have a pretty delicate cell structure like strawberries, so that if they start to freeze and turn to ice, this pierces the cells and they turn to mush.

<Waits for someone to come after her for using pity's rather than pities'>

Noodlie · 24/02/2025 14:13

One for the Aussies - why capsicum and not red/green/yellow pepper? And which do Americans use?

ExcessiveNumberOfNinjas · 24/02/2025 14:12

FeralWoman · 24/02/2025 13:55

@ExcessiveNumberOfNinjas It’s sweet potato in Australia. Available in yellow/orange, white and purple. I think kumara is different. New Zealand might use kumara.

We have three main types of cucumbers in Australia: continental cucumbers (the plastic wrapped ones), Lebanese cucumbers and apple cucumbers. There’s also small versions of Lebanese cucumbers called baby cucumbers or Qukes.

Yes peppers are called capsicums. Small hot things are chillis or chilli peppers.

I have some Australian Women's Weekly cookery books and they call it Kumara, but yes you could be correct and it could just be a NZ thing?

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:12

HamptonPlace · 24/02/2025 14:10

Only in Italy and America!

Edited
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You're sure of that?

ValentinesGranny · 24/02/2025 14:11

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

Maybe she's English...

ThisKindOpalCrab · 24/02/2025 14:11

I'm loving this thread. It's the perfect thread to link to when people say there is no anti American sentiment on MN.

I'll continue to watch posters humiliate themselves for the chance to get the uppity "American"😂.

Dolphinnoises · 24/02/2025 14:11

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

You’re not British?

HamptonPlace · 24/02/2025 14:10

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

Only in Italy and America!

FeralWoman · 24/02/2025 14:09

Never heard of mangetout. That’s snow peas in Australian.

InveterateWineDrinker · 24/02/2025 14:08

Dampfnudeln · 24/02/2025 14:06

Do all UK supermarkets package cucumbers? I shop in Lidl (in Germany), and I haven't ever seen a cucumber in packaging. Courgettes also roam naked here, too.

Of course they roam naked... it's Germany!

Dampfnudeln · 24/02/2025 14:06

Do all UK supermarkets package cucumbers? I shop in Lidl (in Germany), and I haven't ever seen a cucumber in packaging. Courgettes also roam naked here, too.

InveterateWineDrinker · 24/02/2025 14:05

Sunshineandoranges · 24/02/2025 13:49

Why in the uk are courgettes sold by weight but cucumbers per unit? Also as there are many varieties of bananas, is there any country where people buy them by choosing a variety as for e,g I do when buying potatoes?

Bananas - yes, in banana-producing countries like Brazil you'll often seen a few different varieties side by side. Banana importers only ever tend to import the Cavendish cultivars we see here.

On unit pricing vs weight for courgettes and cucumbers - I'm fucked if I know. To add to the confusion, apart from Lidl, everywhere around me sells courgettes in 3-packs!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 24/02/2025 14:04

WillIEverBeOk · 24/02/2025 12:55

YANBU. But I had to google 'courgettes'. Very strange word to use. Not sure why you can't say zucchini which is what it is.

In the U.K. they’re courgettes. In America and very possibly elsewhere they’re zucchini.
Likewise there are different US words for what we call swedes, mangetout peas, and coriander.

Madlymumming · 24/02/2025 14:04

No idea why they are wrapped but certainly makes it easier to remove a forgotten soggy end of cucumber from the salad drawer 😋

Mosaic123 · 24/02/2025 14:03

I sometimes buy mini cucumbers. They tend to come in a sealed plastic bag. One cut up for a sandwich or two is just right and the rest stay fresh.

More expensive but possibly not if you end up throwing half of the big cucumber away.

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