To wonder why.. (brace yourself)

[BackAgainSlimLady]

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?

Here in the US English cucumbers are wrapped in plastic because the skin is thin, and it keeps it from getting damaged. Other types of cucumbers are not wrapped in plastic.

A mutiny and a surge of national pride in our British courgettes.

God Save The Courgette!

Ok now we know you’re trolling us with those rogue apostrophes 🤣

Hmm, it’s not New Zealander (noun) it’s New Zealandic (adjective)…..

(Sorry, just wanted to get in on the performative correcting 🤣)

The language and words. It’s like a whole new language. When I first started reading Mumsnet I’d be constantly looking up what words meant or trying to work out what they meant from the context of them.

The locations being referred to are also a big indicator. Lots of references to London for example.

you don't shop at M&S or Waitrose then

there are shit tonnes of grape varieties you're missing out on too

They're Australian - RTWT.

Edits are only allowed for 5 mins, I think. I made the post about an hour ago so unfortunately can't edit it, I wish I could.

Here's to the Courgette! 🍻

We're a rare breed in the Black Country, bab!

Or spotted once in a local grengrocer - Corjets!

Fwiw it's courgette and aubergine in Ireland too.

No capiscums here either.

Umm do you not know that the majority of Mumsnet users are UK-based? Have you no concept that other countries may call something by another name either? “The way we do it in Australia/USA is the only way” - such a weird attitude! 😂😂

Someone asked what squash are called outside the UK. Pumpkins. They’re pumpkins. Varieties include butternut and Kent.

We have yellow button squash that are part of the zucchini family.

Why is cordial called squash in the UK? As in, the sweet concentrated liquid that you add water to dilute it and make a drink. Flavours include raspberry, sars, ginger, Coola (whatever that is by Cottees), fruit cup, orange, ginger, and lemon lime and bitters. In Australia squash is a type of soft drink, usually lemon flavoured. Possibly only lemon flavoured.

Loving the rare solidarity between the UK and France in this thread. I thought you guys were frenemies and despised each other.

Coming back to the original OP. I am unsure as to why they come wrapped. In Spain, the cucumbers I have seen all my life are half the size of one in the UK but tend to be fatter and they don’t come wrapped in plastic. I was surprised by the length of the cucumbers here.
And no, I am not a pervert. I am genuinely talking about the vegetables 🥒

I thought you were just being fruity!

(Cucumbers are a fruit)

(If you're being botanically pedantic)

Not sure. I come from a state that is largely bilingual and my father (an American citizen, who is not a native English speaker and not born in America) is trilingual but would probably count as illiterate in English. I think that is likely to affect the statistics.

Additionally, being able to read at a basic level hasn't really helped you or many other posters on this thread to get beyond your own prejudices. 🙂

There is something uniquely British though in pride at poor outcomes as long as the outcomes are not as poor as America! I enjoy the threads about fat Americans too. "We're fat, but not American fat'"

It's exactly like siblings who argue like mad between themselves and form a united front if anyone outside the family starts on one of them.

Awh, Bostin! 😂

Has anyone mentioned cilantro yet?

Ah bless.

I'm pleased to see people mentioning the UK at least. Normally watching the train crash that is accusing people of Scottish posters of being trolls because "everyone knows the kids aren't on holidays this week".

Not to be outdone by ANY thread about Northern Ireland though!

Could it maybe be because courgettes are usually cooked and cucumbers are eaten raw? So it’s more important to keep grubby hands away? (Although that begs the question about tomatoes which are often sold loose and also served in a salad..?)

Aubergine, eggplant or...brinjal.😀

Actually, we call it cordial as well as squash, but it tends to depend on the flavour of it e.g. orange squash, lime cordial. (Yeah, I don't know why either! 😂)
As for the "frenemies" solidarity - that's going to become more friends and I'm sure you know why! 😉

Well, I haven't ever heard of aubergine parmesan, but I like that name better than eggplant, which is what we call it.