Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse

[johnsmith45678]

Hehehehe, I've started a new term! Can't wait 'til I hear it on TV something. Some pompous elitist chef will braggingly use the term EVOO, then somebody will ask why POOO wasn't good enough, deflating the whole aristocratic air.

I've got another term I don't like:

"din-din"

[Kerry Beal]

I hated the term "snarf."

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I think it was National Lampoon that defined snarf as someone who enjoyed sniffing bicycle seats. Not sure how the term made it into food usage.

Had a cat named Snarf, before she was flattened on the island highway in Nanaimo.

Now back to your regularly scheduled thread.

[Fresser]

"Mouth feel" must go.

I think it's a crutch for people grasping unsuccessfully for adjectives. "This (cookie, tart, persimmon, whatever) has good mouth feel."

[ghostrider]

"Snarf" was part of my vocabulary, & that of my high school friends, when the Nat'l Lampoon writers wre still in diapers. Sorry, but I don't see a problem with it.

Now, "signature," OTOH, as found on a few too many menus..... signature crap is still crap, but I'm so glad that you signed it.

"Mouth feel" is perfectly acceptable when you're discussing the art of kissing, but otherwise, yes, get it out of here.

Edited July 30, 2006 by ghostrider (log)

[merstar]

"Cute" abbreviations like "Shrooms," "Taters," "Cukes," "Zukes,"... totally grate on me.

"Yummy" doesn't sit well with me either, nor does "Wow Factor." "TDF" is beyond contempt.

[chefpeon]

"Mouth feel" must go.

I think it's a crutch for people grasping unsuccessfully for adjectives. "This (cookie, tart, persimmon, whatever) has good mouth feel." wacko.gif

"Mouth feel" is perfectly acceptable when you're discussing the art of kissing, but otherwise, yes, get it out of here.

Man, I hate this thread! Whether it's linguistic, or culinary, it's still snobbery at it's best, and I just detest it. You know as we sit here joyfully typing about food, how we refer to it, how we eat it, how we prepare it, and when we like to partake of it, there are people out there wondering IF they will eat. How's that for a little perspective? I'm sure they could care less whether you call the dead rat that they eat out of desperation and little choice "din-din" or "brekkie".

Ok, you "mouthfeel" detesters, I challenge you to come up with a better term. I will gladly use it too. Like I mentioned upthread "mouthfeel" may have the "ewww" factor to it, but it's an important term when you work in food.....the way something feels in a client's mouth is just as important as how it tastes.

[johnsmith45678]

"Mouth feel" is perfectly acceptable when you're discussing the art of kissing, but otherwise, yes, get it out of here.

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I wonder if "mouth feel" is a common term in the adult industry... ;P

[Jaymes]

Ok, you "mouthfeel" detesters, I challenge you to come up with a better term.

Um...."texture"?

[Jason Perlow]

'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.

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I much prefer the Jersey version -- Sangweech.

[Jason Perlow]

"Mouth feel" is perfectly acceptable when you're discussing the art of kissing, but otherwise, yes, get it out of here.

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I wonder if "mouth feel" is a common term in the adult industry... ;P

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I think that Mouthfeel and texture are two distinctly different things. I think its legitimate to think of Wine having a Mouthfeel and food having Texture.

[maggiethecat]

De gustibus -- I say sams and zukes and Tex-Mex -- even mouthfeel. I don't use incent as a verb and I know the difference between bring and take, but I don't dismiss folks who don't. The language is a living thing, and it's a choice to use certain words or phrases.

[Taboni]

I normally don't mind abbreviations, but one that kills me is the absurd

'mater for tomato (actually its not even an abbreviation since they are both 6 characters long). I hate this stupid word.

[SuzySushi]

Ok, you "mouthfeel" detesters, I challenge you to come up with a better term.

Um...."texture"?

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Texture is not completely it.

Texture implies whether something is smooth or gritty, etc.

Mouthfeel also describes the feeling of richness to the palate -- whether chocolate feels (not tastes) rich when it melts in your mouth, whether yogurt seems to coat your tongue, whether wine feels full. It's a sensation for which we don't have another word in English.

[johnsmith45678]

Nothing associated with (a restaurant having, a person eating with, a conversation containing, ...) the term "spork" can be taken seriously.

[eruby]

Ok, you "mouthfeel" detesters, I challenge you to come up with a better term.

Um...."texture"?

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Add me to the texture camp. Mouthfeel makes me think something is groping my palates and tongue .

Of course I only just NOW figured out POOO was 'plain old olive oil' and not dung. I've watched too much 'Family Guy'.

Eric

[Jaymes]

So I see the threads have been merged. Fourteen pages of kvetching. Hilarious.

[Fresser]

"Sammiches."

Please. Stop.

I had never encountered this particular baby-talk phrase until eGullet. It is horrifyingly unbecoming. Like saying "bahyon" for bacon or "breah" for bread.

Lack of enunciation gains nothing.

I know I must have phrases that irritate and annoy. I apologize.

But "sammich" is just dire.

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Here in Chicago, home of Da' Bears and Da' Coach, we prefer the much more nuanced pronunciation "SAM-wich."

Hope this helps.

[ghostrider]

Nothin like a sassitch samwich wid a brewski to ease the pain.

[phaelon56]

"Mouth feel" must go. 

I think it's a crutch for people grasping unsuccessfully for adjectives.  "This (cookie, tart, persimmon, whatever) has good mouth feel." 

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I agree about "mouthfeel" being a crutch word for some foods but for certain liquids it's a crucial component of the most important characteristics.

From the web site of Terroir Coffee

The espresso beverage is an emulsion of oil droplets, a suspension of minute solid particles, and a mist of gas bubbles, lending effervescence to the deeply extracted beverage for the first one to two minutes.

They're referring to the elusive substance known as crema - the dense, rich, reddish-brown foam that appears on the surface of a properly pulled espresso shot. But mouthfeel is only the starting point of description in this case. The most crucial and most interesting flavor components are carried in the crema and simply saying that an espresso has "great mouthfeel" is pointless. Some do and some don't but it's the flavors that require detailed description if one wishes to proceed beyond fluffery.

[H. du Bois]

After having frequented this site, I don't care if I ever see the word amuse again.  I don't even care if it's correct.  It's overused and tiresome.

Hmmmm...what would you suggest as a replacement?

Snack? Bite? Taste? Pre-meal degout? Mini-appetizer? Harbinger of things to come?

I'm curious!!!

Omen works for me (though I'm rather fond of your "harbinger of things to come"). Anything other than that which has ceased to be amusing.

[Jaymes]

Ok, you "mouthfeel" detesters, I challenge you to come up with a better term.

Um...."texture"?

Add me to the texture camp. Mouthfeel makes me think something is groping my palates and tongue

Yes, and not in a good way.

[arriba!]

Food writers LOVE: "tucked into" and "washed down with". I hate both and it is amazing how often the phrases appear.

[FabulousFoodBabe]

Food writers LOVE:  "tucked into"  and "washed down with".  I hate both and it is amazing how often the phrases appear.

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Word. And tasty, delicious, yummy. And to say "the flan d'leau disappointed, but the souffle leeks 'n' leeches thrilled," drives me nuts.

Worst of all might be "mouth-watering." As secondborn told me one day, "my mouth only waters when I'm getting ready to hurl."

Think about it.

[tommy]

Worst of all might be "mouth-watering."  As secondborn told me one day, "my mouth only waters when I'm getting ready to hurl."   

Think about it.

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my mouth waters when i think about certain foods. it waters when i think about acidic foods or wines, specifically. it also waters when i'm drinking an acidic wine or eating acidic foods. it's also waters right before i puke, but i don't think that's the point that's trying to be conveyed when writers use that phrase. and it is, after all, all about effective communication, rather than using some sort of baseline vanilla language.

Edited August 1, 2006 by tommy (log)

[Jenny McClure]

I can't stand the word, gelatinous. It makes me think of phelgm.!!! Sorry, it does.....shiver.