The secret life of Snail Salad

[RonButters at AOL.COM]

In a message dated 1/29/03 11:39:58 AM, laurence.horn at YALE.EDU writes:
>
I agree with Ron's theoretical point, and now that Sal has provided
us with the relevant datum, I agree with Barry's contention that
"snail salad" (meaning 'scungilli salad') should be listed because of
its opacity.  I also agree with Sal's "yum".  I knew I liked
scungilli salad, I just didn't know I'd ever eaten snail salad, since
we don't call it that in Connecticut.  In fact the use of "snail
salad" in place of "scungilli salad" in R.I. is sort of the reverse
of the almost ubiquitous reference to squid as calamari (well, in
European-style restaurants as opposed to Chinese- or Thai-style
ones).  Dysphemism rather than euphemism.  The parallel to the
"calamari" case was the fact that when I was much younger, snails
were always referred to in restaurants as "escargots".  And the
seasoning was called "escargot butter", not "snail butter".

Larry, wondering if "conch salad" isn't used because nobody outside
of Key West is sure of how to pronounce "conch" >>

Well,  dunno that SNAIL SALAD is "opaque' just because it is made with
scungilli. It seems to me that SNAIL SALAD is more accesible than SCUNGILLI
SALAD! WHAT THE HELL IS A SCUNGILLI, I'd like to know--and I would look that
up in my dictionary. Isn't a sungilli just a kind of snail? If people in Iowa
make my potato salad with red potatoes should we say that POTATO SALAD is a
regionalism for RED POTATO SALAD? It seems to me that Larry is suggesting
that we need a dictionary entry for SNAIL SALAD simply because it is
sometimes made with peculiar kinds of snails. Do I really need my unabridged
dictionary to tell me that SNAIL SALAD is sometimes made with conche? Do I
need to have an entry for DOG SALAD if some people make it only with a poodle?

I was carefully tutored to say /kank/ during a recent trip to Granada.