Salad is a loose term, it doesn't really define the dish so it's clear as mud... but it covers the ground.
Seems like anything that ain't meat&taters gets shoved into the salad category.
One of the salads people have strong opinions on are Jello salads, more properly Aspic salads.
I remember Julia Childs saying if your food is pretty someone has had their hands all over it. I'd add complicated.
It's a Hellmanns ad but I like Miracle Whip better, I think it has more chemicals than mayo.