[Ads-l] crudit=?utf-8?Q?=C3=A9s_?=(1940)

[Barretts Mail]

I asked friends and family the other day about this word. None of them knew it, so neither Oz’s circle of friends nor news stories about him seem to be intersecting with me by at least two degrees. 

I seem to be out of Martha Stewart’s loop as well, and fruit crudité (whether in French https://alimentation.ooreka.fr/qr/voir/675887/quelles-sont-les-crudites <https://alimentation.ooreka.fr/qr/voir/675887/quelles-sont-les-crudites> or English https://www.forkintheroad.co/summer-crudite-platter/ <https://www.forkintheroad.co/summer-crudite-platter/>) is also a thing outside of the mundane bubble occupied by myself and lexicographers.

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/crudites <https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/crudites>
Assorted raw vegetables served as an hors d'oeuvre, typically with a sauce into which they may be dipped.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crudit%C3%A9s <https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/crudit%C3%A9s>
pieces of raw vegetables (such as celery or carrot sticks) served as an hors d'oeuvre often with a dip

Well, Wiktionary has the fruit:
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crudit%C3%A9s#English <https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/crudit%C3%A9#English>
Raw vegetables often served as an appetizer before a main dish; sometimes including fruits.

And at least I have charcuterie to keep me company even if nobody I know actually says the word.

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 21 Aug 2022, at 10:31, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> "crudités" = 'a traditional French hors-d'œuvre of mixed raw vegetables'
> (OED2 1960)
> 
> ---
> The Bystander, Apr. 17, 1940, p. i (British Newspaper Archive)
> "London Nights: Wartime Dinner, Dance and Cabaret" by Edax
> "Crudités" is the name of the dish of raw vegetables offered as hors
> d'œuvre to the wise and the healthy. Radishes, pimentos, mushrooms, baby
> artichokes.
> ---
> The Tatler and Bystander, May 21, 1941, p. 301 (British Newspaper Archive)
> "Round the Restaurants" by Peter Hume
> Then there are "Les Crudites" composed of fresh raw vegetables, lettuce,
> tomato, cucumber and so on.
> ---
> Vogue, Oct. 15, 1941, p. 92 (ProQuest)
> "People and Ideas: Ten Questions on Unoccupied France"
> Dinner started with soup, a thin, watery shadow of the thick rich dish that
> had been the classic evening meal in our part of the country, or with the
> hors-d'œuvres now called _les crudités_ -- raw carrots, radishes, fruit,
> and perhaps olives.
> ---
> 
> --bgz
> 
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org


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