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Is there such a thing as a "madeleine slicer"?


Smithy

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My best friend says she's been seeing the word "madeleine" used on different web sites to describe the wicked-sharp precision slicing implement we know as a "mandoline". I can't find a dictionary reference to "madeleine" as anything other than a specific pastry or, thanks to Proust, something that evokes a memory.

 

Are these bloggers corrupting the word and showing their ignorance like restaurant critics who say "restauranteur" instead of "restaurateur", or is this a definition of "madeleine" of which I was not previously aware? 

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Clarification, in case it's needed: my friend and I are talking specifically about the kitchen implement that I know as a "mandoline". (She wants me to bring it when I visit in a few days.) She says she's seen it callled a "madeleine" on many a web page and she asked me which was the correct word to describe the tool in question. I was shocked, I tell you!  Still, I thought I'd doublecheck with the assembled masses here in case our language is mutating. As it does.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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I have a mandolin if it helps.  Anyone caught slicing vegetables with it will be composted!

 

YM0501651_Mandolin.jpg.ba93fab6e5d1739def73e329eea501f7.jpg

 

I've searched all my databases and there is no record of a madeleine being a slicing tool

 

1 hour ago, kayb said:

Maybe they're referring to a knife with which one slices open a madeline. Not that I'm certain why you'd need to.

 

.

Grammatically, that makes sense, but doesn't in any other way. Slicing Proust's madeleines is highly unlikely to be a major topic of website or blogs, I guess, so why so many mentions?

 

Edited by liuzhou (log)
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4 hours ago, Smithy said:

Are these bloggers corrupting the word and showing their ignorance like restaurant critics who say "restauranteur" instead of "restaurateur", or is this a definition of "madeleine" of which I was not previously aware? 

 

Yes. They're not thinking straight, probably because they've consumed too many expressos.

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9 hours ago, Duvel said:

There was a „wicked sharp“ precision slicer once in history with a french name, but I can‘t remember the name. Something like „Marie Antoinette“ or related to that …

 

Yeah but it only cut off big chunks.

 

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This, on the other hand is a mandoline. A small one.

 

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A few years back there was a craze for slapping thin slices of cucumber on women's faces (self-slapped, I should stress! I don't go around slapping women with cukes or anything else!) So they were selling these custom cucumber slicers on the streets. I bought one for a laugh. Never used it.

 

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