Culinary Terms that Should be Banned!

[liuzhou]

On 11/25/2020 at 8:50 AM, BetD said:

I would be happy to see the back end of the phrase “a good amount” as a unit of measurement.  “Add a good amount of butter”........ a Tbls.... a stick... c’mon.

 

Please not 'a stick'. That is a purely American concept. Butter isn't marked in sticks in most of the world. Also, tablespooon is an inaccurate measurement for butter. Give us weights, preferably metric!

Edited January 5, 2021 by liuzhou (log)

[liuzhou]

from the CNN article which triggered this topic

 

Quote

one of the country's favorite TV chefs

 

She is not a chef! She is a food writer and cook. Grrr!

[gfweb]

Chef is one of the many words whose meaning has been degraded.

 

The overall trend saddens me. Somehow in 2020 notorious equals famous when it used to equal infamous. 

[liuzhou]

12 minutes ago, gfweb said:

The overall trend saddens me.

 

People have been saying that since language began, yet we survive. Just about.

 

"Chef" just irritates me more than most because there are several real chefs in my family and I feel this general usage downgrades them!

Edited November 25, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[Johntodd]

On 11/23/2020 at 9:16 AM, lindag said:

Not a culinary term but  since this is a venting thread I have to mention how much it irks me when I hear cooking show hosts say: man-aise instead of may-o-naise.

 

 

I'm so sorry to object, but saying "man-aise" was how I was raised.  I think this one may just be chalked up to regional differences, rather that the pretentious slather of overly-wordy know-nothings who like to seem important.

(like me! I posted on a forum thread!!)

[BetD]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Please not 'a stick'. That is a purely American concept. Butter isn't marked in sticks in most of the world. Also, tablespooon is an inaccurate measurement for buttet. Give us weights, preferably metric!

Point taken, edit made, although in ounces... I actually note weight on all recipes I make, but yeah, in ounces.

Edited November 25, 2020 by BetD
To add more words (log)

[liuzhou]

6 hours ago, pastameshugana said:

For me, growing up in northern Arizona, barbecue was: The device used for grilling outdoors, the action or grilling, the event you attended at a friends house where you at (usually badly) grilled meats...

 

Yes, that is what the word means to the vast majority of the English speaking world.

[heidih]

1 hour ago, liuzhou said:

 

Please not 'a stick'. That is a purely American concept. Butter isn't marked in sticks in most of the world. Also, tablespooon is an inaccurate measurement for buttet. Give us weights, preferably metric!

Well that is what we know here in US historically and the tablespoon measures (I hear screaming) are imprinted on the wax paper wrapper. I have forgotten now the term for fresh yeast cube stuff. I grew up using a scale but not at all common 1960s USA. 

[gfweb]

26 minutes ago, liuzhou said:

 

Yes, that is what the word means to the vast majority of the English speaking world.

If the majority rules in language then all the quaint British expressions are rendered meaningless. 

[liuzhou]

53 minutes ago, gfweb said:

If the majority rules in language then all the quaint British expressions are rendered meaningless. 

 

Nonsense.

 

While most dictionaries will list meanings by most common to less common, good ones will include minority meanings too and award them equal validity.

 

I'm not saying that the American uses of barbecue to mean a sandwich or a bit of grilled pork are invalid; I'm just saying they are minority usages.

 

"Quaint" is not a word any linguist would use to describe any word.

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by liuzhou (log)

[heidih]

I have been doing this all day. A linguist is an expert. People are oh so variable. I have cringed at more poor language today than in quite some time (oh and what does quite some time mean?). We use language to communicate and usually it works and thanks to language we can ask for clarification. Off my little tiny box- oops just fell. 

[dtremit]

2 hours ago, liuzhou said:

I'm not saying that the American uses of barbecue to mean a sandwich or a bit of grilled pork are invalid; I'm just saying they are minority usages.

 

At the risk of coming off a bit "Animal Farm," I think both can be correct usage even if one is more correct.

 

I mean, there are plenty of people in the US — pretty much anywhere outside the South and the southern Midwest — who frequently use "barbecue" casually to mean "something cooked on a grill in the back yard." Myself among them, if I'm being honest.

But at the same time, pit barbecue is unarguably the source of the term, and is a centuries old, pre-Colombian tradition; it's also one with deep ties to Black cooks across the last several centuries. Personally I am happy to give that history and tradition some deference.

[liuzhou]

8 minutes ago, dtremit said:

I think both can be correct usage even if one is more correct.

 

I didn't say otherwise.

[liuzhou]

On 11/23/2020 at 11:16 PM, lindag said:

Not a culinary term

 

Of course, mayonaisse is a culinary term and nothing wrong with it.

[Anna N]

15 hours ago, dtremit said:

OK, as an American calling out a British term, I'm at risk of stepping in it, but: moreish

 

I hate, hate, HATE that word. It is nonsensical and meaningless and even unpleasant to look at in print. And if it's spoken, I always get confused trying to figure out what about a roast chicken or whatever it is could possibly be "Moorish."

I am not a fan but I use it because I’ve yet to find a replacement that is as succinct. Ditto “foodie”. They survive because they meet a need. I used to consider myself a language prescriptivist but language mutates, grows, stretches and changes like most living entities. I am adjusting but it’s painful. 

[Anna N]

12 hours ago, liuzhou said:

 

People have been saying that since language began, yet we survive. Just about.

 

"Chef" just irritates me more than most because there are several real chefs in my family and I feel this general usage downgrades them!

Much as I am on your side, I think the battle is lost. Once cooks appear on TV they become chefs. Chef Nigella Lawson vs Cook Nigella Lawson. Try to imagine the ratings drop. 

[Eatmywords]

12 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Chef Nigella Lawson vs Cook Nigella Lawson. Try to imagine the ratings drop. 

Don't worry, Scandalous Nigella would never let that happen. 

[dtremit]

3 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am not a fan but I use it because I’ve yet to find a replacement that is as succinct. Ditto “foodie”. They survive because they meet a need. I used to consider myself a language prescriptivist but language mutates, grows, stretches and changes like most living entities. I am adjusting but it’s painful. 

 

Personally I think it's actually the opposite case of "foodie," which is annoying but specific -- "moreish" seems like a generic term used to replace better, more specific ones. I haven't ever heard anything described as "moreish" that wouldn't have better been described as "craveable" or "indulgent" or "comforting" or something else with more specific meaning.

[heidih]

I have never uttered "moreish" but it conveys something specific to me. Just want to keep eating more of it - like when you keep taking thin  slices of a cake thinking it is not really an additional serving. Foodie is borderline for me because in its early days seemed to have a bit of snob attached - much like "gourmet".  People who know me know me and with strangers I will usually say "I am a food person" if initiating a conversation about their cuisine Probably makes sense only to me. I always think of the North African French teacher who would say he would take a pill rather than thinking about what to eat. I could not wrap my head around that concept. 

[chromedome]

1 hour ago, dtremit said:

I haven't ever heard anything described as "moreish" that wouldn't have better been described as "craveable" or "indulgent" or "comforting" or something else with more specific meaning.

(shrug) Personally I'd argue that "craveable" is the more grating of the two.

[Anna N]

2 hours ago, dtremit said:

 

Personally I think it's actually the opposite case of "foodie," which is annoying but specific -- "moreish" seems like a generic term used to replace better, more specific ones. I haven't ever heard anything described as "moreish" that wouldn't have better been described as "craveable" or "indulgent" or "comforting" or something else with more specific meaning.

I like foodie because it is so non-specific. It covers those who like to eat food and those who like to prepare food (and anybody who relates to food in any way). 
 

None of the words you propose say quite the same thing as moreish. 
 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Anna N (log)

[dtremit]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

None of the words you propose say quite the same thing as moreish. 

 

Maybe I just don't understand what it means, then.

[heidih]

37 minutes ago, dtremit said:

 

Maybe I just don't understand what it means, then.

 

Give me more cuz it tastes SO good

[gfweb]

2 hours ago, chromedome said:

(shrug) Personally I'd argue that "craveable" is the more grating of the two.

To me, craveable is one of those BS food writer terms that is way over-used by unoriginal Instagram writers. Should be suppressed

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, Anna N said:

I like foodie because it is so non-specific. It covers those who like to eat food and those who like to prepare food (and anybody who relates to food in any way). 
 

None of the words you propose say quite the same thing as moreish. 
 

 

The "ie" ending grates. Its over familiar and has a negative sound to my ear.

 

Commie, bolshie, groupie, zombie....