"barbecue pit"

[Joel S. Berson]

At 8/15/2008 05:05 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
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>A:  Patio furniture.

And for the overcooked, wooden element at the heart of the barbecued hamburger,

A.  Patty O'Furniture -- or to avoid gender bias,  Paddy O'Furniture.

Joel


>I heard it in a straight-to-cable movie about a guy who's striving to
>recall the answer to the Italian equivalent:
>
>Q:  Why don't Italians grill their food?
>
>-Wilson
>
>On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 1:41 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> > Subject:      Re: "barbecue pit"
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > At 8/15/2008 12:44 PM, Charles Doyle wrote:
> >>If y'all can stomach one more note on the subject:  My Northern
> >>inlaws commonly say something like, "I'll just throw some burgers on
> >>the barbecue"--using "barbecue" to designate the portable grilling
> >>device. Perhaps "barbecue" in that sense represents a clipping of
> >>(northern) "barbecue pit"--the kind that may be wielded as a weapon?
> >
> > As a Northerner, I would take it as a clipping of "barbecue grill".
> >
> >>Or just a metonomy in its own right.
> >>
> >>BTW: I believe that in the South, "hamburger" is seldom clipped to
> >>"burger" (though national restaurant chains are probably altering
> >>that situation). Also, in the Southern dialects that I'm fluent in,
> >>the seared fleshly disk inserted into a bun (with mayonaise,
> >>lettuce, etc.) to constitute a hamburger would never itself be
> >>called a "hamburger" (much less a "burger").  Sort of like "hotdog"
> >>being the entire sandwich, not just the wiener.
> >
> > As for the seared fleshy disc and what it would be called, I cannot resist:
> >
> > Q:  What's Irish and stays out all night?  (Hint: in the back yard,
> > near the barby.)
> >
> > Joel
> >
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>
>
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>-Mark Twain
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