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Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse


Bux

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Nigela Lawson always uses the term "Voluptuous" when referring to cream sauces. I usually like the word but I really can't stand the term when it's used to describe food. Quiver

Edited by Taubear (log)

Smell and taste are in fact but a single composite sense, whose laboratory is the mouth and its chimney the nose. - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

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'Sammie' for sandwich. It's not even saving any syllables. It's one of those things that's kind of cute when you're 5 but just sounds really juvenile when a grown person says it.

"Fat is money." (Per a cracklings maker shown on Dirty Jobs.)
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Excellent topic!

I'll 3rd "to die for". Those people should remember that actions speak louder than words. :smile:

Also yummy and foodie.

On a reverse note, I loath when people use delicious for anything other than food or drink (except for The Joker on old Batman re-runs).

Thanks,

Kevin

Edited by KOK (log)

DarkSide Member #005-03-07-06

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"EVOO"

Why does that word even exist? It's unnessecary Can't imagine simillar abbreviations.

Just imagine if it would be like this:

Black Perigord Truffles = BPT.

San Marzano Tomatoes = SMT

Buffallo Mozzarella Cheese = BMC

Brunoised shallots = BS

Would be pretty strange if we would be talking/writing about food like that.

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Regarding EVOO........

I thought I was the dumbest foodie (oops! bad word!) on the planet when I could NOT for the life of me figure out what that abbreviation stood for! When I finally figured out it meant "extra virgin olive oil", I too, said to myself, "why not just olive oil"?

My answer, because people want you to know that they're not just using plain ol' olive oil!!! No sir!

They're using the extra virgin kind! And well, EVOO, is much shorter than typing "extra virgin olive oil". My theory, anyway.

Nigela Lawson always uses the term "Voluptuous" when referring to cream sauces. I usually like the word but I really can't stand the term when it's used to describe food. Quiver

At first when I read that, I thought, "How can a sauce be voluptuous?" So I looked it up in the dictionary. First definition: "of, relating to, or characterized by luxury or sensual pleasure". So I guess a sauce CAN be voluptuous......but in my general use of the word, I would be more apt to say, "This cream sauce can make you voluptuous". :raz:

Really though, as far as I'm concerned, baby words and colloquialisms don't bother me at all.

It's the misuse of food words or poor terminology that bothers me. :wink:

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Reading the morning paper I was just wondering if the word "vegetable" is going to become extinct - at least in US English. The annoying "veggie" seems to have almost universally displaced it, even in semi-formal usage. Yet another sign of the dumming down.

Count me in on all the other baby talk words, 'to die for' and bam.

And after a bout of watching TFN for a while, I would almost llike to add the word "perfect." Have you ever tried to count how many times that word is used in a half-hour (really 23-minute) segment? The guiltiest are probably Giada, Tyler and Ina but really nearly everyone oversuses it.

Judy Jones aka "moosnsqrl"

Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.

M.F.K. Fisher

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I completely agree on many that have been mentioned here: cukes, veggies, sammie, delish, resto. They make me cringe -- particularly delish and resto.

The only time I feel that yummy is acceptable is when I am having a conversation with my 21 month old. Thankfully, to her lots of things are yummy.

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I can't think of any major peeves off the top of my head, but my friend Miles hates (HATES) the word "garlicky." I actually kind of like it, though. :shock::laugh:

"We had dry martinis; great wing-shaped glasses of perfumed fire, tangy as the early morning air." - Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado

Queenie Takes Manhattan

eG Foodblogs: 2006 - 2007

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I wish I could find an electronic version to link, but since I can't, I direct all your attention to Henry Alford's piece about Bryan Miller's repeated use of the word "nubbin," which is collected in Alford's book Municipal Bondage. I laugh out loud just thinking about it.

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on another tack: food words that make me cringe because they sound like something they aren't...for example, i don't like "clafoutis" because it sounds like some sort of infection.

"I have a bad case of clafoutis, it's got me itchin' real bad"

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I've never thought of "cukes" as babyish, just a nice short-hand. None of the other words bother me, either.

The "sammie" thing is mostly used by Brits, so I would only be annoyed by it if someone tried to affect a faux British accent or attitude by using it. Like, say, Madonna. :biggrin:

I wouldn't mind if the word "amazing" were never used again, unless singing "Amazing Grace," or discussing "The Amazing Race."

Dear Food: I hate myself for loving you.

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...The "sammie" thing is mostly used by Brits, so I would only be annoyed by it if someone tried to affect a faux British accent or attitude by using it. Like, say, Madonna.  :biggrin:

...

Similarly- only people who grew up with 'Sunday Gravy' should be allowed to use the phrase. And even then, I think it's about time to start phasing it out.

aka Michael

Chi mangia bene, vive bene!

"...And bring us the finest food you've got, stuffed with the second finest."

"Excellent, sir. Lobster stuffed with tacos."

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I second the objection to "amazing" and would like to add the word "awesome" to the list. I cringe whenever I hear this word used, which seems to be about every 15 minutes!

Also, I know it is pretty inoffensive, but I hate it when "mac" is used for macaroni.

Ellen

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Funny, but very few words set me on edge. Guess my life has too many real problems to get all worked up about something like an overly-cute term used by someone that means no offense.

But "cooked to perfection" seems a little over-used.

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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