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Comment by ako | Hacker News Reader

Seafood? Tilapia are freshwater fish...

"Seafood, edible aquatic animals, excluding mammals, but including both freshwater and ocean creatures." Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Picking words apart and applying literal interpretations to their component is often a bad idea. Language rarely works that way.

Totally agree, but GP may not be a native speaker.

That's a bizarre definition:

Cambridge English dictionary: "animals from the sea that can be eaten, especially fish or sea creatures with shells"

Merriam Webster: "edible marine fish and shellfish"

These are much more reasonable definitions, more line with modern usage. I doubt you will find any dictionaries that mirror your Britania definition.

I grew up in and have lived near the land of 10,000 lakes (MN) almost my entire life and not once in my 35+ years of life has anyone referred to fish out of those lakes as seafood. Ever. In fact people around here I feel would be utterly confused if you did. I wouldn't fault him with not following Encyclopedia Britannica exactly.

Huh? In MN, WI and the upper peninsula of Michigan I have sat in multiple restaurants that had a seafood section in the menu that proudly claimed fresh caught (insert nearest great lake) fish. Maybe not so much in Central Minnesota, but I have definitely seen this in Duluth, and I doubt that the average Minnesotan would be confused by calling lake fish seafood. Although if we are being truly pedantic I suppose that the great lakes would more properly be considered inland seas.

If someone said they didn't like seafood, or even had a seafood allergy, would you happily serve them a freshwater fish and expect them to eat it?

Yes, but I chose the word "seafood" because I wanted to broadly refer to all fish and edible aquatic animals, and I figured people would know what I meant since the discussion wasn't really about where the fish are from.

I couldn't think of a better word that refers to cuisine involving animals that live in the water.

That's because there isn't one. Fish of any kind is generally considered to be seafood.

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