Fruit or veg

I am a little confused about the exactness of the definitions of what a fruit is and what a vegetable is.

A fruit is: "the usually sweet part of a tree or bush which holds seeds and can be eaten"

A vegetable is: "a plant, root, seed, or pod that is used as food, particularly savoury dishes"

So why is a tomato a fruit and a pepper a vegetable?

Any help would be appreciated.

Jack

A botanist would say that a tomato and a pepper are the fruit of the tomato and pepper plant, because they contain the seeds.  However, a cook would probably say they are both vegetables, because of the way they are prepared and served.  The categories are not really mutually exclusive. 

It's better not to mention Brassicaceae on this forum. They have been the cause of many a long grim thread.

MrP

If you eat it in your meal, or cook it, then it's veg

If you eat it as a fruit, it's called fruit.

Thanks for the help. I managed to confuse my school with this one and now I see why, there is no clear answer. It seems to be pretty arbitrary. I guess there's a grey area in the middle where you can put them where you want. Although officially a tomato is a fruit where I come from (Britain) I prefer to think of it as a vegetable. I think if it's in a grey area then look at how it's prepared and eaten. Still even better to not worry about such trifles (unless bored between classes as was the case with me). As for the cauliflower/cabbage debate I would think a cauliflower is more like a combination between a flower, broccoli and a cabbage.

Thanks

Jack