New Zealanders Learn Their Record Potato Is Something Else
2022-03-18
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1Last year, a husband and wife in New Zealand thought they had found a record-breaking potato in their garden.
2A potato is a round root-like food that is eaten as a vegetable and is popular around the world.
3Colin Craig-Brown found the potato with his wife, Donna.
4They dug it up and put it on a scale. It weighed nearly eight kilograms.
5They even named the potato "Doug," (d-o-u-g) or "dug" (d-u-g) because they "dug it up" from their garden.
6Doug, the potato, became famous.
7But then, the two sent some of the potato to the Guinness Book of World Records, based in Britain, to confirm their record.
8After months of submitting photos and papers, Colin and Donna recently got some bad news.
9It turns out what they found in their garden was not a potato, after all.
10It was a different kind of plant.
11Guinness said they had found the tuber of a gourd.
12"For this reason we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application," the e-mail from Guinness read.
13So, the existing record still stands.
14That potato weighed about five kilograms when it was found in Britain in 2011.
15Colin said what he found tasted and looked like a potato. But he was not objecting to Guinness's decision.
16After all, he sent them a sample and the organization tested its DNA.
17"What can you say?" Colin asked.
18A gourd, however, is a kind of decorative fruit with a hard shell.
19The tuber is a stem that grows out of the gourd.
20Even though Doug is no longer the world's largest potato, Colin is still happy to have found such an interesting thing in his garden.
21Doug is in his freezer.
22He said he still says "good-day" to Doug each morning when he takes food from the freezer.
23While he was disappointed with the Guinness decision, Colin said he is ready to give it another try during the next growing season.
24And this time, it will definitely be a potato.
25I'm Dan Friedell.
1Last year, a husband and wife in New Zealand thought they had found a record-breaking potato in their garden. 2A potato is a round root-like food that is eaten as a vegetable and is popular around the world. 3Colin Craig-Brown found the potato with his wife, Donna. They dug it up and put it on a scale. It weighed nearly eight kilograms. 4They even named the potato "Doug," (d-o-u-g) or "dug" (d-u-g) because they "dug it up" from their garden. 5Doug, the potato, became famous. 6But then, the two sent some of the potato to the Guinness Book of World Records, based in Britain, to confirm their record. 7After months of submitting photos and papers, Colin and Donna recently got some bad news. It turns out what they found in their garden was not a potato, after all. 8It was a different kind of plant. Guinness said they had found the tuber of a gourd. 9"For this reason we do unfortunately have to disqualify the application," the e-mail from Guinness read. 10So, the existing record still stands. That potato weighed about five kilograms when it was found in Britain in 2011. 11Colin said what he found tasted and looked like a potato. But he was not objecting to Guinness's decision. After all, he sent them a sample and the organization tested its DNA. 12"What can you say?" Colin asked. 13A gourd, however, is a kind of decorative fruit with a hard shell. The tuber is a stem that grows out of the gourd. 14Even though Doug is no longer the world's largest potato, Colin is still happy to have found such an interesting thing in his garden. Doug is in his freezer. 15He said he still says "good-day" to Doug each morning when he takes food from the freezer. 16While he was disappointed with the Guinness decision, Colin said he is ready to give it another try during the next growing season. 17And this time, it will definitely be a potato. 18I'm Dan Friedell. 19Dan Friedell adapted this story for VOA Learning English based a report by The Associated Press. 20Have you heard the record New Zealand potato story before? Let us know. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 21Words in This Story 22scale -n. a device that measures weight 23turn out -v. (phrasal) to happen, end, or develop in a particular way 24decorative - adj. used to make something more attractive; used for decoration 25stem - n. a main long, thin part of a plant that grows above the ground and usually supports leaves