Many of the things which we think of as vegetables are, in strict botanical terms, actually fruits. Most of us know that the tomato, for example, is technically a fruit—and when we commit the grave error of referring to a tomato as a vegetable, there's often some wise soul nearby who is willing to correct us. But did you know that the pumpkin is also a botanical fruit? The same goes for cucumbers, squash, and even corn because, in botanical terms, a fruit is "any edible part of a plant derived from its ovary." An admirably clear definition, as one might expect from the scientific community! That hasn't done much to change which foods we the public think of as fruits, and which ones as vegetables. To complicate matters further, the U.S. Supreme Court—a body no less august than the scientific community—once had to rule on whether tomatoes counted as vegetables, and they bucked the scientific definition as well. According to the Supreme Court, a vegetable is any part of a plant which is generally served with the main part of the meal, while a fruit is a plant which would generally be eaten with or as a dessert—although as far as I know, they took no position on appetizers.