A Case of Tomatoes

You thought the tomato was a fruit.  So did I!  All those years of being corrected and I finally got it.  So did this just change recently?  Not exactly. Try over 100 years ago.

U.S. Supreme Court
Nix v. Hedden, 149 U.S. 304 (1893)

It was all about the money, honey.  The Port of New York required duties be paid on imported vegetables.  The plaintiff had paid but argued that they should not have had to because tomatoes were fruit, and fruit was free, free, duty-free!  So if the Supreme Court officially classified tomatoes as fruit, plaintiff gets money back.  Ha! Fooled them.  The Supreme Court said, "Botanically speaking, tomatoes are the fruit of a vine, .... But in the common language of the people, ... (tomatoes are) usually served at dinner in, with, or after the soup, fish, or meats which constitute the principal part of the repast, and not, like fruits generally, as dessert".  (Think this is hard to read?  Should have seen it before I shortened it.)
Tomatoes aren't served as dessert.  The people of America treat them like veggies, veggies they be.  But remember, it's only for the purposes of commerce, not science.  Since I'm not selling tomatoes guess I'll call 'em like I see 'em.