Sometimes we’re not sure what to ask people on the street. Some days, we think, Maybe there are no more questions to be asked, no more street polls to be taken. Maybe we’ve gotten opinions on everything already, and all the questions of the day have been answered. Then, we turn to Twitter and…
Whoa. Is cereal soup? Has cereal been soup THIS WHOLE TIME? What say you, random New Yorkers?
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Inez, 21, bartender: No. Soup, cereal… this is a tricky question. No, I wouldn’t say, “I’m going to have a bowl of soup for lunch,” and then have cereal. Soup is soup because… it is more salty?
And cereal is more sweet?
Yeah. And soup is broth and vegetables. Cereal is like oats and grains in milk. Cereal doesn’t have to be cooked.
So would oatmeal be soup because it has to be cooked?
Yeah, I guess by that definition.
Carolina, 16, student: I think so. Because you know, there’s liquid with food in it. That’s soup and cereal. They’re kind of the same.
Are you going to have a bowl of soup for breakfast tomorrow?
Yeah!
David, 26, editorial assistant: That is the question. No, I wouldn’t say so, because I would say that the only soups that are cold are summer soups, and cereal is cold all year round.
What if you eat oatmeal in the winter and cereal in the summer?
Well, I wouldn’t count oatmeal as cereal. I guess if we’re talking about grain cereal, than yes it’s a soup. But otherwise, no. I don’t think oatmeal is a soup. And only summer soups like gazpacho get to be cold.
Giorgi, 18, student: I don’t know. I don’t think so.
Why not?
I don’t know. I’d have soup for breakfast, so sure.
Grey, 24, advertising: No, it’s more of an oatmeal. It’s definitely a grain.
You can’t have grains in soup?
No, I totally would. You can. Like chicken soup with rice. But I wouldn’t mix milk with it. And cereal needs milk.
Ashley, 22, file clerk: No.
Joelle, 22, database consultant: No!
Why not?
Ashley: Soup I always thought of as meat and vegetables and broth.
Joelle: Cereal is just like.. It’s just cereal. It’s just dry grain.
Would you ever put meat and vegetables in your cereal?
Joelle: No! That’s disgusting. That would be nasty soup.
Ricardo, 20, student: No. The reason why I think so is because soup is salty and has vegetables. I’ve never tasted cereal that’s salty and I don’t think I’d want to.
Crystal, 23, unemployed: Yes! I think it could be considered soup. There’s liquid, and soup doesn’t have to be hot, like gazpacho. It could just be a broader definition of soup.
Is it OK that cereal’s sweet and soup generally isn’t?
I think soups can be sweet. There are plenty of sweet soups like butternut squash soup or a sweeter kind of tomato soup.
Josh, 17, student: No. Is this a trick question?
Nope, totally serious.
Soup and cereal are two different things.
But aren’t they a little similar?
They are in a way. You eat them from a bowl with a spoon. They’re both liquid with stuff in it. What’s the definition of soup? That’s what I’d have to look up. I’d do it by the dictionary.
Raymond, 18, student: In a way it is. They both have some broth. It depends on the soup. Like cheerios and Spaghtti-Os, those are the same thing.
Previously – How Would You Blow $2.2 Billion and Keep it a Secret?