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Comment by spott | Hacker News Reader

Citrus taxonomy is fascinating. Of all the citrus that we have, there are only three "natural" plants: the mandarin, pomelo and citron. Everything else is some cross between these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_taxonomy, in particular, this graphic: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citrus_taxonomy#/media/File:Ci...

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On the topic of produce taxonomy: cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, kale, and kohlrabi are all just cultivars (selectively bred) from Brassica oleracea (wild mustard/wild cabbage).

Also feels like a competition for how many different spellings English can borrow for the same etymology (cauli, coli, kale, kohl in these words, and additionally there’s also “cole” in coleslaw at least).

Nice, I would not have noticed this save you pointing it out.

E. coli as well. It was sold with the lettuce there for a while.

I had to check whether you were joking. According to Wikipedia, E. coli is named after “bacteria found in the colon”, whereas the “cole” bit of cauliflower comes from the Latin for stalk.

Good bot

Nope. Cauliflower is latin for colon flower. It's because of the taste.

On the flip side, trees are not a specific taxa at all. Trees are the convergent evolution of multiple unrelated genera.

Gardeners are intimately familiar because it makes it a pain to rotate brassicas. So many veggies are in this family!

Don't forget about cauliflower, lettuce, celery, collards, gai lan and bok choi. I'm very much impressed with the horticultural diversity of this single species of plant. Also of interest are closely related mustard species and their varieties.

Lettuce and celery are not brassicas.

> Of all the citrus that we have, there are only three "natural" plants: the mandarin, pomelo and citron.

Well, not quite… there’s a bunch of other, more niche Citrus species too. For instance, here in Australia you might see finger limes (Citrus australasica) now and again. But it’s true that all the most widespread citruses are hybrids of those three.

Pomelo, if one hasnt had it, is AMAZING (if you like citrus)

but mostly for thgose who like pulp. The corpuscles in pomelo are huge - and its super delicious.

Highly recommend (its basically a gigantic 'orange' with its own flavor.

And much like a pomegranate or a crab, half the experience is taking it apart.

My local grocery store had them for a few weeks but doesn’t stock them anymore. A shame, because they are delicious.

They're a bit finicky though. The ones I find in the grocery store are often quite dried out (overripe I guess?).

If you get a juicy one though they really are amazing.

Is it somewhat like grapefruit then? Never eaten a pomelo.

It's the same fruit, "pomelo" in Spanish is "grapefruit" in English.

edit: ok, according to Wikipedia, "pomelo" is an ancestor of grapefruit. But in Spanish, "pomelo" is grapefruit.

Nah, pomelo is like 2x larger, its skin is as thick as a picky, and has no bitterness in its tsate

Right. I was confused because in Spanish "pomelo" means grapefruit.

I thought this too until I was corrected by a Cuban person. In (her) Spanish pomelo means pomelo and toronja means grapefruit.

Now there is definitely room for more than one of us to be right but I thought I should mention it.

Ah, yes: to be clear, different Spanish(es) have different words for things. Some differences are hilarious, such as the word for "to pick up" in Spain ("coger") meaning "to fuck" in Argentinian Spanish.

In Argentinian Spanish, "pomelo" is 100% "grapefruit". I'm sure of this: I'm Argentinian.

But yes, it's likely that we are both right and in Cuba this isn't the case!

So is it an idiom in Argentina to say "go fuck a grapefruit"?

Haha, no, we use a different verb for "pick up"/"grab": agarrar.

So thankfully no sex with grapefruits is strictly necessary.

Much less bitter than a grapefruit. It's a sweet, delicious fruit.

That What I remember from this excellent documentary about citrus[0].

I would also plug "Weird explorer" playlist on citrus[1]. His youtube channel where he tries to cover as much fruits as he can(his estimate is around 1% of all fruits)

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkMKJCvJKBk

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diy5s8_gNYM&list=PLvGFkMrO1Z...

This is fascinating! I recently learned that not only can grapefruit mess with medications, but also other citrus-adjacent things like bergamot oil (earl grey tea). This taxonomy makes a lot of sense.

My grandmother couldnt eat any grapefruit due to he medications, this was a problem because for ~50 years, a grapefruit was her daily breakfast with some salt and sugar sprinkled on top.

To this day - I LOVE grapefruit in all forms... it sucks to think that there may be a time in the future where I cant eat it.

It's generally not a problem as long as you eat exactly the same amount of grapefruit every day. You just have to adjust the dosing to suit.

It's a lot easier to say "don't eat grapefruit" than it is to explain that "eat exactly the same amount every day" is not a lighthearted joke.

That's an unsourced assertion with potentially serious medical implications if you happen to be wrong. Do you have anything to back it up?

I believe "just adjust the dosing to suit" is the tricky part.

One source wisely suggests asking your doctor.

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-preventi...

Another has big words that needs a bit more time to digest.

Grapefruit juice–drug interactions https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1046/j.1...

I'm a practicing anesthesiologist whose wife is also a physician. I'm sure I can drag up a boatload of references if you're genuinely curious, but the short version is that almost anything can be adjusted for if you do it every day. If you're on warfarin for anticoagulation, eating vitamin K-rich foods will affect that. So it's not that eating spinach is forbidden; it's that you have to eat the same amount every day or very, very little ever.

I mean, we do give drugs that have primarily renal excretion to people with nonfuctioning kidneys. After we consult a pharmacist, of course.

And I have no control over my patients' behaviors, because I don't meet them until the day of surgery. I already have to take them as they are. I might delay or cancel a case if someone isn't optimized, but sometimes "really bad" is as good as they will ever be.

No, it's okay. Coming from two people with your backgrounds, okay. What I really don't like is that sometimes people make assertions here and they really are not in a position to do so, and it looked like this was the case here until you clarified. Upvoted both.

No problem, nice internet person.

I just read this for the fifth time :-(

Super sad and dark.

The part where I acknowledged that some people are horrifically ill?

The American Society of Anesthesiologists has a Physical Status that is part of every pre-op examination we do.

ASA 1: a normal healthy patient. (You almost never see these.)

ASA 2: A patient with mild systemic disease.

ASA 3: A patient with severe systemic disease. Subtext of the definition of this class notes that it causes some impairment of function. This is our most common class.

ASA 4: A patient with severe systemic disease that is a constant threat to life.

ASA 5: A moribund patient who is not expected to survive without the operation.

ASA 6: A declared brain-dead patient whose organs are being removed for donor purposes.

There's a bit of personal style in there - my 4 might be someone else's 3 - but it's a shorthand way of saying "they're very sick". A 5 is someone who is actively trying to die.

Hey, I am 100%%% on your side. <3

Probably the most "Drop The Mic" moments ever, thank you.

Wouldn't you also have have the grapefruit at about the same time everyday, and take the affected drugs at the same time everyday?

From what I've read there are two ways grapefruit interferes with medication.

1. For some drugs, such as statins, those drugs are broken down by certain enzymes. Grapefruit interferes with those enzymes, resulting in more of the drug circulating in your body. In effect it is as if you took a larger does of the drug.

2. For some drugs, fexofenadine is a common example, those drugs rely on certain transporters that move the drug into cells. Grapefruit interferes with those transporters, resulting in less of the drug reaching cells. In effect it is as if you took a smaller dose of the drug.

It sounds like this would be sensitive to timing.

Or more of it reaching the cells.

It's complex, and yes, you would have to eat the same amount every day at the same time as you take the drug to be sure.

As I said, it's a lot easier to say "don't eat it".

I am a doctor. Don't ask a doctor. Ask a small-store (NOT CVS or Walgreens, they don't have the time) pharmacist and tell them they can get back to you later with the answer.

>>"is not a lighthearted joke. "

i LOVE THE UNINTENDED PUN IN THIS COMMENT (oops on caps)

The reason is that after my grandfather passed, my grandmother (who a life-long nurse) got together with Francis Stutsman, one of the top cardiologists in the nation (and former mayor for Saratoga California - they were life-long tennis friends) and he had a famous joke ;; (he also is the biggest Pistachio grower in California)

"Well, as your cardiologist, I am happy to tell you that your heart will last you the rest of your life.... which might be three months."

The name "grapefruit" always seemed a little puzzling when compared with grapes, and it seems nobody is quite sure how the name got started, only that it is from Barbados. One interesting theory is that it is named after the "sea grape", the only kind that grew in that time and place, which has a bitter taste.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/grapefruit-history-and...

I always thought the word "pomelo" was a portmanteau like tangelo or pluot. Turns out it's the OG. TIL.

OG=original? TIL=Today I learned?

Original Gangster Today I Learned

“OG=Original gangster” has morphed to just mean original now

Original Gangsta: the person who started the gang.

Urban Dictionary (DDG !bang search !ud) is useful for defining slang / pop terms used online.

!ud OG -> "original gangster"

Which gives:

90s gang affiliated rappers called themselves "Original Gangsters" or "OG" for short. It's a title for real, actual crime and gang affiliated gangsters.

<https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Original%20G...>

"OG" as others have noted has come to mean simply "original".

In German, lemons are still citrons (Zitronen), while Limone applies to limes only and there is no such thing as a distinct concept of a lemon (which may or may not explain the fame of German engineering ;-) ).

Limes are called Limette in German. Limone refers to lemons in general although it's seldomly used.

(Guess there might be regional differences to the use though)

Yes, where I come from, Limette has been the traditional name, but it has been mostly replaced by "Limone", when it comes to supermarkets, etc. I guess, these are pretty much interchangeable now.

Funny how we call bad cars "lemons" and there is a car called 'Citron'

presumably you mean "citroen"? in which case this is from the companies' founder's surname, and is french, and is not the name of a car but of a brand.

Ah, I was wrong. Thank you/

Yes, and Mr Citroën was named after the fruit. Or more precisely, his grandfather, a grocer, was named after it.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Citro%C3%ABn

The usage for "defective or poor-quality product" pre-dates automotive use.

Apparently Volkswagen originated the term with respect to automobiles through a 1960s campaign (see: <https://www.madx.digital/learn/lemon-volkswagen-ad>), and George Akerlof's "The Market for Lemons" (1970, Nobel prize awarded in 2001).<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Market_for_Lemons>

Relying on Wikipedia: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemon_(automobile)>

Google's Ngram Viewer tends to support the timeline: <https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=lemon+car&year...>

German Wikipedia calls citron "Zitronatzitrone", which to this day I had never heard before.

TIL indeed.

Highly recommend calamansi if you've never tried it before. It's very prevalent in Phillipine cuisine; I first came across it as a sorbet flavor and I'm absolutely hooked on them now. They're a sort of super-acidic version of a cross between an orange and a lime.

Where do kumquats fit? And where are the "Lisbon" lemons that are so popular?

this is mostly true. There are a few citrus varieties that until recently werent widely commercially cultivated. A prominent one is the cumquat, and there are a couple of native Australian citrus species that are now beginning to be cultivated that are not cultivars of the 3 core citrus species.

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