# How come American English uses more French culinary terms than Old World English does? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 20, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030 "2011-04-20T01:19:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/21 "2011-04-20T20:48:58Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > . . . (Bonus question: why is soup typically served with crackers in the US? I just don’t get it!) You give the crackers to the kids to give them something to keep them busy because the ‘kids meal’ they chose doesn’t come with soup or salad. Sometimes there’s a container of cracker packets on the table so that you don’t have to order soup to get something to fiddle with. ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/22 "2011-04-20T21:46:36Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > And when we get away from dining, we find an even more jumbled arena. I don’t think this is fairly classified as an “American” phenomenon: > > napkin - serviette > packet - sachet > comforter - duvet > day care - creche I thought a duvet was the cover for a feather comforter. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/23 "2011-04-20T21:54:26Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I thought a duvet was the cover for a feather comforter. From what I have seen, the household stores sell “duvets” and “duvet covers” together. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/24 "2011-04-20T22:53:47Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > … In the US, there was a time where French cuisine was considered the best, so I’m sure restaurant owners used French terms to give it an aura of class. [Chicken Francese](http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodmeats.html#chickenfrancese), a post-WWII American dish cooked by Italians with a French sounding name. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/25 "2011-04-20T23:23:55Z")
Francese actually an Italian word though. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/26 "2011-04-20T23:35:00Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > any chance it’s a holdover from the norman invasion? after all it’s why we eat pork and beef instead of pig and cow. A lot of lexicon that came over at the time of the colonization of North America changed in Britain but didn’t change in America. But I really think the balance of using French words to Anglo words depends most on the subject area. It could very well be that Julia Childs–or something similar–is the reason, when it comes to specialized areas like cooking, cultural discourse, etc. ---
**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:** [April 20, 2011, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/27 "2011-04-20T23:47:58Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > You also have to factor in that, until recently, most US chefs trained in France, whereas most British chefs trained in Albania. That’s pretty funny, but I can think of two responses: 1. Did you mean Elbonia? 2. Britain has chefs? ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/28 "2011-04-21T00:13:28Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Two words: Julia Childs. > > That’s all I’ve got. nitpick: Julia _Child._ 😉 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/29 "2011-04-21T01:12:57Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > That’s pretty funny, but I can think of two responses: > > 1. Did you mean Elbonia? > > 2. Britain has chefs? 1. Elbonian cuisine consists of mud done 6 3/8 ways. Even British food isn’t _that_ bad. 2. [Chef!](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chef!) ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/30 "2011-04-21T13:15:10Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > I mean France is only a few miles from England yet it seems that with regard to cuisine Americans use more French terms than the British or Irish do. > > Filet - Fillet > Entrée - Starter > Filet mignon - fillet steak > etc. > (Bonus question: why is soup typically served with crackers in the US? I just don’t get it!) Cuz the French have mad skills in the kitchen… Duh! Sauteeing! ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/31 "2011-04-21T16:12:10Z")
> [@Larry\_McAwful](#): > > Someone remarked to me just today that the British seem to favor English-sounding terms more than Americans do, for whatever reason. This stretches to all sorts of terms, like preferring _lift_ over _elevator_ and _way out_ over _exit_. I don’t know if this is true or not, but it seems consistent with what you’re talking about. You make it sound like a considered decision, which is not something you can generally throw at the english language. 😃 I remember watching a really fabulous series in the UK on the development of the english language, pointing out words that come from all sorts of origins – french, latin, celt, nordic, german. Basically our language was made by our settlers. It stands to reason, therefore, that american terms that Brits don’t use come from your own history of foreign settlement – hence you using Zucchini (italian) when we use courgette, or your use of cilantro (spanish) where we use coriander (for the plant as well as the seeds). Aside from latin origins, we don’t use spanish or italian words because we’ve never had major settlement from those areas (well, not in the last 1600 odd years, anyway). One of the pointers that came out of that programme I mentioned was that many of our legalistic terms or elaborate words come from french, as that was the language of courtiers in the middle ages, whereas simpler terms (like ‘what’) come from anglo-Saxon, as that’s what the grunting masses spoke. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/32 "2011-04-21T16:14:40Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I thought a duvet was the cover for a feather comforter. Nope, that would be a duvet _cover_. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2011, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030/33 "2011-04-21T16:37:44Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > One of the pointers that came out of that programme I mentioned was that many of our legalistic terms or elaborate words come from french, as that was the language of courtiers in the middle ages, whereas simpler terms (like ‘what’) come from anglo-Saxon, as that’s what the grunting masses spoke. I always thought the long grandiloquent (here’s another one) words in English came from the Norman invasion. I’m sure French as a diplomacy language played a role as well, but the whole freedom vs liberty thing seems to stem from the Normans. The English court spoke French, hence the number of loanwords you’d expect to crop up in a royal court, whereas the commoners hung on to to their simpler day-to-day Saxon words. That still wouldnt explain the OP. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-american-english-uses-more-french-culinary-terms-than-old-world-english-does/579030.md?page=1)