How to describe a 'green' pepper.

[TomatoNut95]

I keep having trouble with someone who keeps calling sweet/bell peppers 'green peppers'. I tell them to be more specific because almost all peppers, including hot peppers, are green until they mature. They just keep claiming that when you say 'green pepper' they're talking about a sweet/bell pepper. In my opinion, there are three ways to describe a pepper: sweet, hot or heatless hot pepper. They could be talking about a green Habanero, a green Jalapeno, a green Poblano. In my opinion, when you say 'green pepper' you should be referring to its color, not variety. What does anyone think about it?

[webmaster]

Well... it's just the way people commonly refer to green bell peppers.

I used to almost give myself eyeroll headaches when some people online write "walla" instead of "voila" or "case and point" instead of "case in point."

But I try not to get wound up about stuff like that anymore.

[PaulF]

There's hot green peppers and sweet green peppers or green peppers without anything. I go for sweet peppers whether they be green, orange, yellow, purple or red.

[Gary350]

Green pepper is how some people in certain families talk. When I was a kid everyone in the family and our part of southern Illinois said, green pepper to mean, bell pepper. Many times I heard grandmother and my aunts say, I need a green pepper from the store. For some reason my mother called bell peppers, mango's ??? Mom never saws a mango and had no clue what it really was. We lived in farm country everyone grew a garden in those days and talked about growing green peppers. Most towns were small 5000 population or less. Hot pepper, banana peppers, other peppers, were not sold in stores and no one grew them, I'm not sure anyone even knew there was such a thing as hot peppers. In those days there was no Mexican food sold in grocery stores and no Mexican food restaurants any where in our part of the State. There may have been Mexican restaurants in Chicago or St Louis if so we had no clue what Mexican food was. 50 years later children grow up talking like their parents & grand parents the words green pepper just pops out of their mouth automatic when talking those were the only words they every heard growing up. 42 years ago after moving to TN I had learn to say, bell pepper, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, cayenne peppers, etc, 42 years ago many peppers were not popular yet no one every heard of Habanro peppers. Most peppers all start out green color then change colors. There are several ranges of colors, 2 colors, 3 colors, 4 and 5 colors. I know what you mean it is sometimes irritating to hear people talk about Green Peppers like everyone should know what that is without being told.

It is irritating to hear people say, hamburger meat. What about, fish meat, chicken meat, pork meat, ham meat, bologna meat, liver meat, turkey meat, no one ever say that so WHY add meat to the word, Hamburger.

Hose pipe, is very irritating it is physically impossible to have a hose pipe. By definition hose is flexible and pipe is ridged metal. How can you have a flexible metal pipe or a ridge rubber hose.

Drill motor is so stupid. I have a picture of a real drill motor. It is the electric motor removed from inside an electric hand drill. LOL Did you ever hear someone says, do you have a drill motor, can I borrow your drill motor, I just bought a drill motor.

Have you heard the saying, Don't waste time arguing with people just let them be stupid. LOL. Its not like people are really stupid they heard those words all their life they just don't know better. Old habits die hard.

[TomatoNut95]

Lol, I totally understand the 'kids just start talking like their parents' thing. Around here in the sticks, my family talks wrong. They call Rat snakes: Chicken snakes. Vultures are called Buzzards. Small snakes are called Ground Rattlers. Water snakes are called Water Mocasons. However, I try to refrain from calling stuff the 'hick' way.

Gary, as a matter of fact I have often wondered why hamburgers are called HAMburgers when the meat is made from beef, not ham.

It's nice to be understood on this subject. The last time I got into the 'green pepper' argument with the person, they just got huffy and upset and start fussing about why people don't be more specific when they're talking about squashes and apples and any other produce like that. I can't get through that hard persons head that calling a pepper green is talking about the color, not the variety.
Honestly. If there's one I can't stand is people that can't be reasoned with. In some instances, you've got to be more specific if you want the correct item. You might ask for a bunch of green peppers thinking you'll get bell peppers and you just might get a bunch of green Habaneros!

[Gary350]

Gary, as a matter of fact I have often wondered why hamburgers are called HAMburgers when the meat is made from beef, not ham.

Ground beef sandwiches were invented in the town, Hamburg Germany about 200 years ago. The ground beef sandwiches became known as, Hamburgers, one of Americans most favorite foods. There are about 150 hamburger restaurants in our town. There was a new German restaurant that opened in town last summer the only thing they served was hamburgers & Hot dog both very German but the restaurant went out of business no one would eat there because no one believed it was real German food. LOL

[SQWIB]

Yeah, I can understand the green pepper meaning a green bell.
I have actually said it to my wife, hey hon, can you pick up some green peppers.
If I want any other pepper, I'll specify.
I'll also say can you pick up some green, red and yellow bells.
But what I'll never say is " hot water heater"!

Why do we drive on a parkway and park in a driveway?
One of the many mysteries of the universe.

[Vanisle_BC]

If someone talks to me about a green pepper I assume that's its present colour. If I care whether it's sweet, hot or in-between I would ask. Sometimes a pepper is just a pepper.

I believe that being irritated is a choice we make, whether we're conscious of making it or not. it's quite possible - but not always easy - to change our attitudes about things that we claim 'annoy us'.

Maybe there's a reason semantic rhymes with pedantic

Joking aside, it's a whole interesting subject to explore; how we come by our attitudes & beliefs, and why we stick to them. But it can't be explored without an open curious mind, a willingness for some introspection and an ability to enjoy mental exercise. If anyone's up for that, in some other forum or by PM, I'd love to discuss the subject.

[TomatoNut95]

I do know that sometimes a pepper is a pepper, but sometimes it helps to be more specific in some instances.

You know, I never realized why we call a hot water heater a HOT water heater. That does make it sound like it's a heater that heats water that's already hot.

[SQWIB]

I do know that sometimes a pepper is a pepper, but sometimes it helps to be more specific in some instances.

You know, I never realized why we call a hot water heater a HOT water heater. That does make it sound like it's a heater that heats water that's already hot.

Because it's not called a "Hot Water Heater" it's simply just a "Water Heater"

[Vanisle_BC]

Y'know so long as we're being picky: Most of the time, my water heater really IS heating water that's already hot. Think about it. In fact even when it starts from 'cold', you could say that the water is already heated. On a scale of -460 to 212F, at what point is "hot"?

It's all a bit subjective: Have you never ordered a mild curry and been served something that burned your lips off? How many Scoville units does it take for you or someone else to think a pepper is hot; or do you just go by the color? Maybe that's the problem with your friend. Red/green color blindness is fairly common.

[digitS']

Ha! It is subjective. Yes, red/green color blindness is fairly common. Did you know that it's a matter of degree? At least, that is how I understand it . Years ago, I was given a simple test for color perception. I failed 1 out of 4. So, I was given a test with 30 images. I couldn't distinguish 4 out of 30.

Later, I worked with flowers. Oh no, not creatively arranging them or putting together a wedding or something like that! Luckily, there are other jobs involving flowers, like growing them.

Hot Peppers. I grew Anaheim peppers for several years without realizing that they are considered a "hot" pepper. It's not that I like all that much heat and my interpretation of that Anaheim spiciness ... it didn't seem hot. I'm not sure what my ability to taste amounts to. It's probably okay - I often notice something by smell before others do.

We have to be careful about interpreting most anything and questioning another's perception and perspective. Good Heavens, don't the number of ethnic cuisines suggest a great range of tastes? It can't be really possible to get inside of someone's senses.

We had a Mexican restaurant not far from where I lived as a kid. I imagine that it came to be there because in the opposite direction, there were acres of fruit orchards and Mexican workers. Some stayed after the harvest and went up to a little town a few miles away and started a restaurant.

There were also Chinese restaurants in a bigger town, nearby. I would go into one or the other as a kid and wonder about the pleasant fragrance that I found so appealing. And yet, the dishes weren't all that similar. I was in my late 20's before I learned that it was cilantro.

Now, some folks go, "OMG, it tastes like soap!" My reaction to that is: yeah, but it must be a very tasty soap. I don't think that I'd really describe cilantro that way but maybe you understand what I mean. And descriptions -- I was told long ago by linguists that every human language is capable of expressing the most complex ideas. It may take education; it may take invention of new words. It's all possible but I doubt that individual perceptions and artistry can be hammered into limited syllables and alphabets.

Steve

[TomatoNut95]

It's all a bit subjective: Have you never ordered a mild curry and been served something that burned your lips off? How many Scoville units does it take for you or someone else to think a pepper is hot; or do you just go by the color? Maybe that's the problem with your friend. Red/green color blindness is fairly common.

Exactly! I mean, you don't have to be specific all the time, just in important instances. I mean, you know, if someone were to ask me for a tomato, I'd just hand them a tomato, regardless of it's color; but because peppers can be either hot or sweet..... Like for example: if someone were to come to me and say, 'may I have a green or red pepper to put in a dish I'm preparing?' I would want to ask them, 'green or red WHAT pepper?' Because that person may prefer a hot green or red pepper if they liked spicy.
I guess I'll just have to face fact that when someone says 'green' pepper, they mean 'bell' pepper. Either that, or the next time someone asks me for a green pepper, I'll just hand them a green Habanero. And when they burn their mouth on it, and they come to me and complain, I'll just say: you asked me for a green pepper and I gave you a green pepper. You just didn't specify if you wanted it hot or sweet.

I just like when people are more specific when they ask me for certain things in the essence that I don't want to give someone something they don't like. I don't want to be fussed at for giving them something wrong or yucky. Which is why when I give someone a new variety of tomato or pepper (rather plants or produce) I'm growing, I like to tell them what it tastes like and everything so that they'll know what to expect when they taste it. That way they can say, thanks, I'll try it! Or, no, I don't care for that. Rather than them take it home, dislike it and throw it away.

[Vanisle_BC]

.......I like to tell them what it tastes like and everything so that they'll know what to expect when they taste it. That way they can say, thanks, I'll try it! Or, no, I don't care for that. Rather than them take it home, dislike it and throw it away.

So would you tell them that cilantro tastes like soap, or not? And how would you avoid the potential for verbal confusion between 'cilantro' and 'coriander'?

I have always thought cilantro-the-plant flavor is objectionable and like soap; but I'm beginning to realize it adds a piquant 'something' to various dishes. Even starting to wonder if it's something I could acquire a taste for, in its own right. Not sure about that: It might just remind me of Granny's method for curing my swearing . But coriander-the-seed I love! How can one plant produce two such different flavors?

[digitS']

That's a good question, VanIsle.

They "deserve" .

. 2 very different names.

Steve

[TomatoNut95]

I've never gotten to try Cilantro. Every time I try to grow it, something goes wrong. However, if I thought it tasted like soap, then that would be the opinion Id give someone if they asked me.

I do know the difference between Cilantro and Coriander. Cilantro is the leaves, Coriander the seed.

[Vanisle_BC]

Ground beef sandwiches were invented in the town, Hamburg Germany about 200 years ago.

And this is "Hamburger Pheonix", said to be a new, mutated variety found growing in the bombed-out ruins of the city after WW2.

[Gary350]

I have always thought cilantro-the-plant flavor is objectionable and like soap; but I'm beginning to realize it adds a piquant 'something' to various dishes. Even starting to wonder if it's something I could acquire a taste for, in its own right. Not sure about that: It might just remind me of Granny's method for curing my swearing . But coriander-the-seed I love! How can one plant produce two such different flavors?

After Sunday church we would go to lunch with 20 people Mexican food was the #1 choice every Sunday. We tried several different Mexican restaurants for variety until the group decided food at Camino Real is best, then one day someone said, cilantro tastes like soap. After that power of suggestion took control and 1 by 1 people started complaining salsa tastes like soap. Next thing we know group of 20 gets smaller and smaller week after week several people want to eat in a different restaurant they don't want any more soap flavor salsa. LOL. Everyone was happy until soap flavor got stuck in there brain and would not go away. LOL

[TomatoNut95]

Another thing that was brought up.... somebody called a watermelon a fruit. Watermelons are veggies......right?

[Vanisle_BC]

Another thing that was brought up.... somebody called a watermelon a fruit. Watermelons are veggies......right?

Maybe. Maybe not. It depends whose type of definition you want to accept. As a gardener, what practical difference do you see it making?

[TomatoNut95]

Hard to say, I guess. It's grown like a veggie, yet sweet and juicy enough to be called a fruit. I guess don't call it either, just call it melon.