# Foods whose names have changed **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 5, 2010, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412 "2010-03-05T14:45:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/41 "2010-03-05T20:22:51Z")
> [@Glory](#): > > Huh, I would have thought they were capitalizing on the fact it kind of looks like a gooseberry? > > [http://www.allotment.org.uk/greenhouse/fruit/assets/gooseberry.jpg](http://www.allotment.org.uk/greenhouse/fruit/assets/gooseberry.jpg) > > Patagonian toothfish to Chilean Sea Bass. Really? There’s a fun coincidence. My other nom de 'net is generally Refrozen Seabass, or lately, Seabass Inna Bun. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/42 "2010-03-05T20:37:08Z")
Back in the late 70s/early 80s, there was an appetite suppressant named ‘Ayds’. When AIDS became known, the name was changed to Diet Ayds for a short while, then withdrawn from the market. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > Videos of old Ayds television commercials have enjoyed a resurgence of popularity on Internet video sites for the unintentional dark humor from the association with the wasting associated with HIV infection (for example, Ayds helps you lose weight or Why take diet pills when you can enjoy Ayds? or even Thank Goodness for Ayds). [Ayds commercial](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP_uiiRAZqs) ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/43 "2010-03-05T20:48:35Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > What’s the English word for Poi? (Other than ‘taro goo’.) I’m from Hawaii and I know of no English equivalent. “Taro” is an insufficient term, as taro doesn’t convey the preparation put into the food. It’s like calling hash browns “potato.” ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/44 "2010-03-05T21:05:46Z")
Has anyone not singing “Amore” used the term “pizza pie” in the last 40 years or so? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/45 "2010-03-05T21:18:29Z")
> [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > Has anyone not singing “Amore” used the term “pizza pie” in the last 40 years or so? Evidently yankees call 'em pies. My hairdresser is from Chicago and was confused that you can’t buy by the slice here, “only by the pie.” I’m pretty sure she confused the hell out of the guys at LaBrasca’s and that they thought she wanted dessert. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/46 "2010-03-05T21:21:20Z")
Cold cuts are usually called lunch meat these days. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/47 "2010-03-05T21:24:01Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Evidently yankees call 'em pies. And to older ones, tomato sauce is “tomato gravy”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/48 "2010-03-05T21:34:28Z")
How about hash browns becoming “country potatoes” to distinguish the real thing form the frozen, stringy crap. Or is that my imagination…? ---
**Author:** ![It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/it_s_not_rocket_surgery/32/312_2.png) [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/It_s_Not_Rocket_Surgery)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/49 "2010-03-05T21:35:01Z")
> [@kath94](#): > > Cool. I did not know this. I’ve seen “rapeseed oil” references but never knew that it and “canola oil” were one-in-the-same. Thanks for this info! Hey, I’m always happy to supply somewhat useless trivia. Check out [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=550730) for tons more. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/50 "2010-03-05T21:52:34Z")
> [@It\_s\_Not\_Rocket\_Surgery](#): > > It was difficult to sell “rapeseed oil”, so it became “canola oil” (short for **Can** adian **O** il, **L** ow **A** cid) in 1978. Strictly speaking, canola is a particular variety of rapeseed that’s lower in erucic acid, and much more palatable. It does come from the same species, though. Back during the cold war, Russian dressing morphed into a variety of different names, including “Tomato dressing,” Catalina and (surving with a slightly different recipe) Thousand Island. Frankfurter\>wiener\>hot dog. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/51 "2010-03-05T21:55:35Z")
Sauerkraut -\> Liberty Cabbage -\> Sauerkraut. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2010, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/52 "2010-03-05T21:59:22Z")
Help me out here-- London Broil and Tri Tip… invented names for something new, or re-branding of an old cut to make it sound more upscale? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/53 "2010-03-06T03:39:46Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > How about hash browns becoming “country potatoes” to distinguish the real thing form the frozen, stringy crap. Or is that my imagination…? Not out here in the Midwest – those are two different ways of preparing potatoes. Hash browns are the long stringy cuts, often fried together into a sort of patty or cake. Country (or ‘country fried’) are slices of potatoes (usually round, or quarter-rounds) that are fried. ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/54 "2010-03-06T08:36:43Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > There’s good old Brazil nuts, which many people used to call “nigger toes”. Likewise, the candy known as “Licorice Kids” today was referred to as “Nigger Babies” back when I was a kid in the 60s. I try not to use the old name, but occasionally, I forget myself. A friend once mentioned seeing them in a store in central Minnesota once, and saying out loud, “Wow, Nigger Babies…I haven’t seen those for ages!”, too late realizing that the clerk behind the counter was African-American. Realizing what he said, he started to turn red in embarassment, to which she laughed, and said, “Relax, we used to call them that too!” ---
**Author:** ![In\_Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a8b319/32.png) [@In\_Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/In_Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/55 "2010-03-06T08:46:20Z")
Also, sometime in the mid 70s, Sugar Pops, a Kellogg’s cereal, became known as Corn Pops. Likewise, Sugar Smacks became just Smacks. No word yet on what they did with Sugar Pop Pete or Diggem the Frog; hopefully they didn’t cut them loose in Limbo or something… ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/56 "2010-03-06T10:02:54Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Cool simlupost! > > GORP to trial mix. Nonsense, it’s still GORP 😉 French Fries infamously became Freedom Fries briefly at one cafeteria in the US a few years back. In the Air Force, Flight Lunches (official name) were called “Bag Nasties” and later became “Box Nasties” (because they now come in a box. They’re really pretty good, although if you are sitting in a poorly air conditioned KC-135 sitting on the flightline with the engines running for an hour or two as I once did, you will be distressed to find your ham and cheese sandwich has become hot and melted - ick). ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/57 "2010-03-06T10:53:23Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > And to older ones, tomato sauce is “tomato gravy”. Or “red gravy”, and there are still some places in the US where you’ll hear those names. (Not to be confused with red _eye_ gravy, which is a different beast.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2010, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/58 "2010-03-06T14:17:43Z")
“rolled tacos” + guacamole = “flautas” ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/59 "2010-03-07T03:00:18Z")
**Avocados** were originally called **Alligator Pears** due to the shape and skin texture. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2010, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412/60 "2010-03-07T03:54:46Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > **Avocados** were originally called **Alligator Pears** due to the shape and skin texture. They are still called this in some countries. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/foods-whose-names-have-changed/531412.md?page=4)