I think that is a very valid point, but I don't bother correcting people unless I really think it will be of benefit, in much the same way that Gabe15 has explained. I guess I'd make it into the banana-is-a-tree group if I was not so much into growing them
I see it in other domains as well:
- Some people believe that the Internet and the World Wide Web are the same thing. To an IT professional, they are very different.
- Striated (skeletal) muscle. In college, I learnt that striated muscle is so-called because it has the appearance of striae or bands when viewed under a microscope. Watch a bodybuilding contest, however, and a commentator viewing a competitor's definition from many yards away will say something like, "Ooh, look at the striations!"
- Folders in Windows versus Directories in other operating systems such as Linux. They might seem to perform the same function and appear to be used the same way, but they are different.
The funny thing is that over time, I think a lot of such accuracy errors eventually become officially correct over time (not all), using similar pathways that result in languages developing and changing over time. So the striation thing in bodybuilding is accepted as valid, especially within the bodybuilding community.