Misunderstandings in language: Where’s dinner
Lingual follies June 15th, 2008
Why do Americans call the main course “entree“? And why do they call the entrée the appetizer?
Hell, even Gordon Ramsay is saying it now (and he (like me) is a Yuropian)!
It’s especially funny/ironic considering the fact that:
- Entrée is a French word
- Americans shun the French whenever they can
- The French language is king in the world of food in the US
Here’s how it’s supposed to be:
The appetizer is a drink you get either before you’re seated, or before your entrée is served.
The entrée is the dish meant to fire up your appetite (or to fill you up before you get to the rest of your dinner…) - usually soup, or a couple of little (warm or cold) snacks.
The main course is your actual dinner, and can consist of either one dish/plate or a sequence of ‘em.
Dessert comes after the main course (at least you have this one right).
After dinner is when you get coffee and a mint.
Mmmkay?
One Response to “Misunderstandings in language: Where’s dinner”
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Realizing very well that I may be throwing out the baby with the dirty water...
If your website is a blogspot.com website or your email or url ends in .ru, you can pretty much expect your comment to be considered spam - experience proves me right. I don't click links in spam, I don't approve spam, and all comments are moderated. Save yourself the trouble. I have NO issues whatsoever going in and spending an hour deleting crap. All it takes is one click, anyway, and *poof*, spam buhbye.
It's your loss of time, not mine.
Mehdi is a 30-some year old nerd, who's learned
how to program and script the hard way - by being thrown into a job that required it.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:24
HAHA!
I like your reflexion. Is it a reason for some American to gain weight. By modifying the word, you may had a new plate to serve
Appetiser, entree, main course, desert.. 4 meals to eat compare to 3 meals + a drink
I’m from the south shore of Montreal, province of Quebec. The only French comunity in north America, beside Louisiana