Pommes frites

[Joel S. Berson]

At 1/22/2012 02:06 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>It appears you're partly right. The OED requires two cross-links to
>find a definition, and both have additional meanings and links,
>making it quite confusing. After reading them three times, I get
>that definition.
>
>However, the cross-link from "pommes frites" goes to "potato chip"
>which is defined as both "chip"and North America "potato crisp." So
>I think "pommes frites" is being defined as both.

Thus the OED is using here the British terminology to explain:  (1)
"pommes frites" is the British "chip";  (2) N.A. "potato chip" is the
British "potato crisp".  I agree, it's confusing.

Joel


>Benjamin Barrett
>Seattle, WA
>
>On Jan 22, 2012, at 10:39 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>
> >
> > At 1/22/2012 01:17 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
> >> The OED says that pommes frites are potato chips; the AHD doesn't have it.
> >
> > But isn't this merely the OED's British usage, where "French fries"
> > are generally called "chips"?  (But sometimes "fries".)  U.S. "potato
> > chips" are there called "crisps".
> >
> > Joel
> >
> >
> >> As Barry Popik points out in 2003
> >>
> (http://listserv.linguistlist.org/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0303D&L=ADS-L&P=R3392&I=-3&X=5A86CF318F261388B0),
> >> the word has meant "French fries" at least since 1997, perhaps as a
> >> translation from Belgian French. There is a discussion at
> >> http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/544084 as to whether there is a
> >> difference between pommes frites and French fries (Wikipedia doesn't
> >> think so: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pommes_frites).
> >>
> >> The word "pommes frites" has currency in restaurants in Seattle. I
> >> have used the word to refer to a dish that a restaurant calls
> >> "pommes frites." The word definitely has a high-faluting connotation
> >> and can be used to refer to Mickey D's dish only in a joking way.
> >>
> >> The spelling of the singular is not yet fixed. I think "pomme frite"
> >> would be the French spelling, but  "pommes frite" and "pommes
> >> frites" are also found on Google.
> >>
> >> Googling on "a pomme frites" gets only one hit that is possibly
> >> relevant: "Order a pomme frites anywhere in Quebec and they'll do a
> >> double take and take a second to figure it out."
> >> (http://www.fark.com/comments/6513026/71338958#c71338958)
> >>
> >> Benjamin Barrett
> >> Seattle, WA
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org