What the heck is a rutabaga?

My wife is trying to get me to try more vagetables (which I hate) so she's been cooking all this nasty stuff like spinach, lima beans, squash, broccoli -- yuck. But tonight -- tonight she cooks this s**t called rutabaga. WTH?? It smells like burning tire! I ain't going to eat anything that smells worse than my feet. What IS this stuff? Do humans actually eat this or is she just playing a cruel joke on me. Please answer while I walk to Subway and buy a meatball sandwich.