• Rothe@piefed.social
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    29 days ago

    You did eat blueberries. In Scandinavian languages bilberries are called blueberries (blåbær, blåbär), because what Americans calls blueberries didn’t exist there (the American sort was only introduced to Europe in the 1930s).

    English isn’t alone in deciding what is a blueberry and what isn’t.

    • matelt@feddit.uk
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      29 days ago

      So really we should be calling those insipid, watery grape-sized ‘blueberries’ impostors. It ain’t a blueberry if it doesn’t stain your mouth purple!

      • Slatlun@lemmy.ml
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        29 days ago

        The wild North American blueberries (there are multiple species) are also small and flavorful. The giant, watery ones are a bred variety that you won’t find in nature

    • Ihmes@lemmy.world
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      29 days ago

      We’re eating mustikka over here, which translates to bilberry in english. The “blueberries” are pensasmustikka in finnish.