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Is cake a sort of bread? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 4 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

95 comments fedilink hide all child comments

So according to Merriam Webster bread is: a usually baked and leavened food made of a mixture whose basic constituent is flour or meal

And cake is: A: a breadlike food made from a dough or batter that is usually fried or baked in small flat shapes and is often unleavened B: a sweet baked food made from a dough or thick batter usually containing flour and sugar and often shortening, eggs, and a raising agent (such as baking powder)

And yet some people don't think that cake is bread.

What's your opinion?

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 4 months ago (2 children)

If you google the question, you'll get lots of people saying that cake isn't bread, despite being similar.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 months ago (2 children)

You asked the question, "is a cake a sort of bread" and the dictionary is explicitly stating "cake is a breadlike food".

Are you instead asking if "lots of people" is a more reliable source than the dictionary?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 4 months ago

Something can be breadlike without being bread, in a similar way to how whales are fishlike without being fish.

The dictionary doesn't dictate how words should be used; it reports how people use them. Consulting a dictionary is a way to find out how "lots of people" use a word.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 months ago

No but like something being bread like doesn't mean that it is bread, just similar to bread.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 4 months ago

I think it's that people like certain levels of specificness. Like, bread, pizza, and broccoli are all foods, but if you said "I had a food for lunch" that'd sound weird.

It's not necessarily that cake isn't a type of bread or that the two aren't closely related. It's that we have a super-common and more specific word for it (cake) so it sounds awkward when you use a different word that might be technically accurate, but is a weird choice in practice.

Same for a lot of things. A hot dog and a sub are technically the same thing. But if a waiter dropped off your hot dog and said "here's your pork sub", you'd probably look at them funny.