Let's Kill "Foodie"

[Peter the eater]

Clearly, I dont have a problem with the word.

But for those of you who do, William Kitchiner in The Cook's Oracle (1817) used the word Mouthician.

I've never seen the word used anywhere else, and the OED does not include it, so it must  have been WK's own.

←

Thank you Janet, I was hoping for your always well-researched input. I hope you weren't alarmed by the topic title.

I like mouthician, although it makes me think of a dentist . . . or worse.

[Jaymes]

And I like saying I'm a foodie.  I particularly like saying, "Well, see you tomorrow.  Right now, I'm off to meet some of my foodie friends for lunch, and then we're going to Central Market for shopping and a cooking class."

I have long wondered what it is about the human condition that makes us tend to lump people into groups and then decide our group is somehow superior to the other group.

As in, "THEY are trendy, cutsie, superficial, celebrity-groupie, lemming-like 'foodies,' but I am not.  I am a 'food enthusiast.'"

←

I don't think I'm better than people who like to refer to themselves as foodies. I just hate the word. I don't like words that end in "ie" for no reason, and "foodie" sounds awful to me. It makes me cringe, just as "veggie" does. So I don't use it.

←

Well, that makes sense. I'm not really much for cutsie names myself, but the current piling on of "foodie" and the previous disdain for folks that refer to themselves as "gourmet" as being pretentious, elitist, snobby, etc., strikes me as more than just a preference for one term over another. It seems to me to have considerable condescension attached.

And BTW, I didn't mean to pick on "food enthusiast," which I actually quite like.

[Jaymes]

Maybe I'll try "epicurie" so that I'll be up to date.

[-sheila mooney]

my problem with all the "gastro" terms is that they reference the belly and digestion, not what happens in the nose and mouth, which is where all the fun stuff goes on. No?

[moosnsqrl]

And who decried "gourmet?"  I must've been offline when that happened.

You've never heard someone say, "My friends call me a 'gourmet,' but I hate that word."? Or other remarks to that effect?

No, I've not. I've never heard (or at least interpreted) "gourmet" as an insult.

I have long wondered what it is about the human condition that makes us tend to lump people into groups and then decide our group is somehow superior to the other group.

I don't see anything here that implies superiority . . . just saying I don't like being called something doesn't make me a snob.

As in, "THEY are trendy, cutsie, superficial, celebrity-groupie, lemming-like 'foodies,' but I am not.  I am a 'food enthusiast.'"

See previous comment.

I do think that the need to do that seems to ease as one grows older.

←

At this age, I am happy to have anyone attribute any opinion or behavior to my "youth" but I think it's a fallacy here.

[blue_dolphin]

Foodie can sound a little too cute so I don't care use it myself, but it doesn't make me cringe if I hear someone else use it.

my problem with all the "gastro" terms is that they reference the belly and digestion, not what happens in the nose and mouth, which is where all the fun stuff goes on. No?

←

I was thinking exactly the same thing. As a scientist, gastro = stomach to me and reflects no appreciation or savoring of what ends up as "gastric contents"

[jsmith]

I think my issue is with pretty much any noun used to label me due to my interests. I like Star Trek but would cringe at being called a Trekkie.

I tried running through a list of things I enjoy (aquariums, movies, etc.) and coming up with names to give people who enjoy them and they all bothered me. I don't know why this is, but it may be the reason people object to all the previously mentioned terms.

Nothing against people who use these terms to describe themselves, just saying I hate it when any are used on me.

[Pille]

I'm happy with the word 'foodie', too, but then I'm a non-native speaker and may not get all the horrid nuances that go with that word. To me it means somebody who is very much 'into' food (either cooking it or eating it with enormous pleasure), but not necessarily on a professional basis..

[mrsadm]

I like "foodie".

And let's face it, the word will continue on whether we here on egullet like it or not.

[Toliver]

And BTW, I didn't mean to pick on "food enthusiast," which I actually quite like.

←

Hmm, what about "Foodthusiast"?

[andiesenji]

I mentioned early in this thread that I like the term and see nothing wrong with using it to describe myself.

However, given the opinions expressed here by a few, I certainly will not use it to refer to anyone else. I certainly would not want to insult a person by using a term they find offensive.

I don't mind "gourmet" but it has been attached to so many things as an adjective or even an adverb, often for reasons that are skewed or unclear, that it has rather lost its original meaning, at least in my mind.

(For instance, what is meant by "Gourmet-Style"???)

To get right down to it, I simply do not understand the brouhaha that has arisen over the use of the term in popular culture. If it makes it easy for other people to understand how one feels about food, cooking, appreciating food, kitchens, food writers, particularly if those people are non-English-speaking, then why not allow its use. Anything that furthers understanding by being a universally understood term, should be appreciated, not decried.

While attending the Sci-Fi Convention in Anaheim last summer, I met several people from other countries and when describing my hobbies and interests, I described myself as a "Foodie." There was not a single person in the group who had difficulty understanding exactly what I meant. (And asked for recommendations for places to dine and shop.)

[Dieck]

Count me among the food geeks!

[judiu]

Well, how about "foodista/o" like "fashionista"?

[Synergy]

I personally don't mind the term foodie, but if I had to choose an alternative label, I would go with gaustronaut or food geek. They both have a nerdy ring, which suits me just fine

[The Old Foodie]

Clearly, I dont have a problem with the word.

But for those of you who do, William Kitchiner in The Cook's Oracle (1817) used the word Mouthician.

I've never seen the word used anywhere else, and the OED does not include it, so it must  have been WK's own.

←

Thank you Janet, I was hoping for your always well-researched input. I hope you weren't alarmed by the topic title.

I like mouthician, although it makes me think of a dentist . . . or worse.

←

I'm not at all alarmed, I'm not such a sensitive little flower.

... I would have been alarmed if the topic title was 'Lets Kill The Old Foodie'

but I'm not a conspiracy theorist either.

I am watching the debate with interest however. If a consensus alternative is reached, does someone have a plan to ensure the new word takes over from "f****e"? A petition? A lobby group? Legislation?

[moosnsqrl]

I am watching the debate with interest however. If a consensus alternative is reached, does someone have a plan to ensure the new word takes over from "f****e"?  A petition? A lobby group? Legislation?

←

I would suggest we adopt it universally when you change your handle to "The Old _____," but, as we all know handles are not to be changed, I guess we'll have to look for an oracle to enlighten us and free us from the dreaded (by some) label.

BTW, there actually are topics about killing and eating squirrels on here, so my status as a conspiracy theorist remains active and on high alert

[The Old Foodie]

I remembered a blog story I did sometime on just this topic. Here are a few other names (most now sadly obsolete) for "persons with a particular preoccupation with their Belly-cheare" (or Belly-timber or Belly-Joy or Belly-matter).

Broth-belly

Gully-gutch

globber

gutling

gipe

gobslotch

Belly-god (a good one I think)

And my favourite - "Flap-sauce" (or flappe-sawce)

Have fun

Janet.

[Pat Churchill]

When I am not involved in food-related activities, I do genealogical research and it was with a deep sense of satisfaction that I discovered my paternal great x 7 grandfather was named Angel Eatwell (b Wiltshire 1679) so I probably come from a long line of foodies.

But I do have this ambition to be remembered as a masticatrix

Edited February 12, 2008 by Pat Churchill (log)

[insomniac]

"Gourmet" and "gourmand" have their place, I feel--even though words borrowed from the French into English do tend to carry some lingering connotations of snootiness.

good point.... after being slapped on the wrist for taking the p!ss out of the use of beverage rather than drink in a previous post (I had in mind the philological schism which occurred after William the Conqueror imposed French (beverage) upon Anglo Saxon England (trinken) and was extrapolating the usage in convict stocked Australia, I am in favour of foodie....a common Oz diminution is the adding of 'ie' to a noun, the ongoing thread on Aussie Choccie being a prime example of one of our irritating habits

[sazji]

my problem with all the "gastro" terms is that they reference the belly and digestion, not what happens in the nose and mouth, which is where all the fun stuff goes on. No?

←

I feel exactly the same way.

Then there's:

Palatarian

Gastrolibertarian

Savorophile

Victualist

Foodstuffer

[Susie Q]

my problem with all the "gastro" terms is that they reference the belly and digestion, not what happens in the nose and mouth, which is where all the fun stuff goes on. No?

←

That's true. I didn't think of that when I suggested gastrophile. That could also be some doctor in a lab or hospital who's area of interest is the gut.

[Holly Moore]

I think it was Julia Shakespeare who declared, "First we kill all the foodies!"

[vox]

inspired by a conversation on another forum, what do people think of the term foodie? it appears to be pretty divisive (jeff leal's comments a while back regarding the difference between foodies and chowhounds).

a) how do we define a foodie against a non-foodie/chowhound, etc?

b) do you self identify as a foodie? why or why not?

[Batard]

Foodie is actually a real word with a history to it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

"foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news."

Seems like a useful distinction to me. "Foodie" is a word that is in common culture, and it is meaningful to to people who do;t care about food.

The word "chowhound" simply refers to a website. It's not really a "word".

I prefer to refer to myself as a "food enthusiast. "

[vox]

Foodie is actually a real word with a history to it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foodie

"foodies differ from gourmets in that gourmets are epicures of refined taste who may or may not be professionals in the food industry, whereas foodies are amateurs who simply love food for consumption, study, preparation, and news."

Seems like a useful distinction to me. "Foodie" is a word that is in common culture, and it is meaningful to to people who do;t care about food.

The word "chowhound" simply refers to a website. It's not really a "word".

I prefer to refer to myself as a "food enthusiast. "

←

i don't necessarily consider wikipedia to be an authoritative source on etymology!

why "food enthusiast" and not foodie?

does foodie seem elitist?