OT: Which end of a carrot is the "tail"?

Question

My wife asked me to peel and top/tail some carrots. Since they were very small, she decided she only wanted me to chop off "the tails".

Which end does "the team" think is the head and which the tail?

I'd say the head was the wider end, at the top when the carrot is growing the ground and which has the leaves sprouting from it; and the tail is the pointed end at the bottom as it grows.

But after querying "do you *really* mean the tail", it turned out that she thought of the blunt end as the tail. She knows how carrots grow and has grown many, so it's weird that she uses "tail" to mean the blunt end, uppermost in the ground with leaves on it.

Am I going mad?

Bev · Answer

If you wife is not close by the answer is that you are correct of course.  If your wife is reading this then she is correct.

ARW · Answer

Do as she asks with the carrots and then ask if you can to top and tail her tonight.

Fredxx · Answer

How long have you been married? Or is the first time you've peeled some carrots?We all are to some degree or other. Start worrying when everyone around you appears to be insane.

Richard · Answer

The tail is at the rump end.When your wife has asked for your opinion about the size of bum, perhaps you've been brutally honest?;)

Brian Gaff (Sofa · Answer

Without reading the thread, I think the top is where the leaves were and the tail is the pointy end which can be quite hard as well. Do you remember using carrot tops in a dish of water and watching little rootlets  grow? No good if its been in the freezer though. Brian

newshound · Answer

I'd go with your version, but on thinking about it can see an alternate logic that the top end is a bit like a bum.With blowfly maggots, the pointy end is the head and the broad end the rear.

Andrew · Answer

Little carrots shouldn't need peeling. Just a brush and scrapeunder a tap.Aren't carrot-tops the name given by Met plods to countrybumpkinplods ?

Vir Campestris · Answer

I'm with you Brian.The top is obviously the bit at the top when it is growing; the little bit at the other end I supposed does look slightly like a tail.NY good luck with the divorce :)Andy

OT: Which end of a carrot is the "tail"?

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