Food Terms We Loathe/Misuse

[bloviatrix]

I get the willies from "sammie" and especially "sammitch," sorry to say.

Amen!!

[fiftydollars]

I hate veggie, yummy, and, most of all, foodie. I also hate Rachel Ray, but that's another thread...

[KateW]

"de-thaw"

I usually say "veg" instead of veggies but that's just usually on the job, like "what's the veg tonight?". If I'm anywhere else I say vegetables.

[Andrew Fenton]

"Foam" I never got and I never will.

"Fusion" Will that please die already.

Surely it's not the word "foam" that bothers you, but the foam'd cuisine fad? Ditto "fusion"...

[Andrew Fenton]

"de-thaw"

Does this mean "freeze" or is it an emphasized version of "thaw"?

[coffeeroaster]

I always feel like a poser when "veg" slips out of my mouth; I've never worked in restaurant kitchen but my husband did and I picked it up from him...

Amen to "gourmet." There's a whole legion of gift shop/gift basket people out there for whom "gourmet" is synonymous with "food" -- drives me crazy. Then there's the way it's been co-opted in the coffee world. I don't call mine "gourmet coffee" because people think it means I've oiled up my single-origin Arabica beans with some God awful chemical "flavoring." Ugh!

"Artisan/Artisanal is a little dicey even when well applied; it seems to imply "too precious to be eaten." I'm in it for the eating my friends.

[Jinmyo]

"A yummy veggie sammitch with shrooms would be uber-delish."

Gah.

[KateW]

"de-thaw" 

Does this mean "freeze" or is it an emphasized version of "thaw"?

In my experience, people use it when they mean "thaw" or "defrost".

[JennyUptown]

Darn...someone beat me to 'foodie.'

Oh, and when someone puts extra-special emphasis on salumi to demonstrate how they know the difference between salumi/salami. I mean, yes, you're right and it's nice to know the phraseology, but great salumi...and oh! the salumi...and have you tried the salumi? in one post?

'Offal' because it's obvious relation (and homophone): awful.

After reading the Pure Food and Wine thread in New York, I'll probably cringe the next time I see "tartare" on a menu after anything other than "steak."

[chromedome]

"A yummy veggie sammitch with shrooms would be uber-delish."

Gah.

Check that...should read "gourmet shrooms"...

(I agree with those who find "gourmet" the most irritating. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Aside, that is, from the obvious "double the mark-up." [/rant])

[JennyUptown]

wieners

[Pickles]

I don't like the word "meal." "I had a meal last night." Sounds weird, and even.. unappetizing as in "prison meal" or something.

[chefdg]

"SUN DRIED" EVERYTHING; I mean who really gives a crap?

[morda]

After reading the Pure Food and Wine thread in New York, I'll probably cringe the next time I see "tartare" on a menu after anything other than "steak."   

I find that tartare is a useful word on a menu. For example tuna tartare. I'm not sure what other term non-Japanese restaurants could use, other than "raw", which sounds less appetizing.

I have a strong adversion to the terms low-fat, lite, light, and reduced, but that has more to do with the product than the words.

Here's a fun one I've seen pop up: lower-carb. Lower than what? I bet they lower the total carbs by just reducing the serving size.

morda

[Radio7]

From living in England:

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'chip butty (ie?)" (the word 'butt' should not be associated with food. lol)

Pork Scratchings (ok. EWW. makes me think of dirty little toenails - from a pig)

"squash" for juice. (just darn wrong. what, are barefooted village women stomping on the oranges for my tropicana? Hmm...)

Also, it bugs me when people pronounce the H in 'herbs'. (Just makes me think of the Wendys guy)

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From North America:

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'finger lickin' good' (eek!)

scrumptious

Delish, of course.

crossanwich (blasphemy!)

Fun topic

[britcook]

the word 'butt' should not be associated with food. lol

Yep, especially Boston Butt and butt roast.

Also, it bugs me when people pronounce the H in 'herbs'

Funnily enough I find exactly the reverse!

Personal pet peeve "Canning"

Because it isn't. You are putting stuff in bottles or jars, cans don't figure anywhere

[curlywurlyfi]

I don't like the word "meal." "I had a meal last night." Sounds weird, and even.. unappetizing as in "prison meal" or something.

I love this! in my new world order (where, incidentally, I am also banning the colour yellow), using a phrase such as "would you like to go out for a meal" or "how did you enjoy your meal" actually constitutes a hanging offence.

I also have a problem with veggies, sarns (UK short for sandwiches), nosh and snags (sausages). But my most hated word is 'grub'. How can a word that means white and bulging insect larva also mean food??

aieeeeeek.

[JAZ]

From the world of drinks:

"'Tini" (or even worse, Tooni) for martini

"Grandma" for Grand Marnier

Tuh-kill-yuh for tequila (yes! you're so clever! No one's ever thought of that before!)

[cdh]

Lots of cutesy words ending in -ie or -y sounds get on my nerves.

Baby talk more generally does too. Sammiches and sammies are equally bad... the first is baby talk, and the second is lazy baby talk.

Same with baby talk contractions like sketty. You couldn't pronounce it when you were 3 and it was cute. You can't pronounce it when you're 23... not so cute any more.

Bevvy for a drink? Only if spoken with a thick North of England accent.

[JennyUptown]

Apps.

Did anyone say that yet?

Appetizers isn't so long or difficult to say that it requires abbreviation. Come on, say it with me now "Appetizers."

[browniebaker]

"appetizers" - they kill my appetite

"sapid" -just doesn't sound delicious

"cook until done" - what does that mean?

"grille" - with an e

[NulloModo]

I knew there was something I meant to enter into this thread, and I completely forgot it when I moved to post. Now I remembre. I absolutely, positively, can not stand the use of the word 'brekkie' instead of 'breakfast'. It makes my skin crawl.

[coffeeroaster]

"SUN DRIED" EVERYTHING; I mean who really gives a crap?

Also in this category: "Hand-gathered." So what! It's just too precious.

[Vervain]

scrumptious 

Delish, of course.

I just want to smack anyone who says either of these.

I don't like "fridge" either. Frankly, I'd rather hear "ice box" even though I'm not old enough to remember them.

And I'm embarrassed to say that my husband and I both started using "plate" as a verb after watching too much Ming on FoodTv.

[Chef Shogun]

This thread made my flesh crawl. Just...consider yourselves all quoted with the reply "Yeah, seriously. I hate that."

Hate Atkins-Friendly. It's very friendly to Atkins, though. How much did you have to pay his estate to label your grilled chicken-beef-pork wrap that? Also carb friendly. To me, something that is 'carb friendly' means 'contains lots of delicious carbs'. Rarely is that indeed the case.

'Fun'. I hate when foods are described as 'fun'. What exactly makes them fun? Am I a bad or dull person if I'm not totally rockin' out to my shrimp poppers with x-treme mango sauce? Sub-pet-peeve: 'fun size' generally isn't. 'Fun Dip' was, though.

'Offal'. This word definately meant nasty things before I was really 'into' food. Might as well have labled it all 'entrails' and been done. I don't know, I'm still working on this one.