# If I asked you to cut boneless chicken breasts in "strips one inch square"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 15, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782 "2010-11-15T21:13:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 8:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/41 "2010-11-16T08:20:42Z")
I’d have assumed strips with a 1" square cross-section, because that’s what was asked for. (‘Square’ isn’t a 3 dimensional shape. It’s a cross-section of a 3 dimensional shape.) Though, I’d have ‘maybe they meant cubes’ stuck in the back of my mind, and call for confirmation, while I was making the strips. But it’s a hell of a lot easier to fix ‘they said square when they meant cube’ than ‘I thought they meant cubes, but they meant strips’. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/42 "2010-11-16T12:00:17Z")
From me, you’d get a request for clarification: “do you mean cubes, inch-wide strips or do you want inch-wide strips, and if the meat is very thick I am to cut them in half lengthwise so it’s not so thick?” I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a request where people specified the section for strips before and in this case it seems unnecessary as it would pretty much get you the same as asking for “inch-wide strips”. And where I come from, pinchitos have the meat in cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/43 "2010-11-16T12:39:43Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I’d try to give you 1" cubes but I’d fail spectacularly at it. Yeah, I think this says it as well as I would. Especially the fail part. I’m not much help in the kitchen. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/44 "2010-11-16T12:55:53Z")
If I knew that you were going for satay style skewers I would have understood, if I was clueless as to the final dish, you would have gotten cubes, because when I cut for cubes I usually cut into strips first then cube. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/45 "2010-11-16T17:24:40Z")
OP failed at giving proper directions, with his confusing “square” request. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/46 "2010-11-16T17:48:59Z")
I would have asked for clarification; I know that I have a strong tendency to always default to the non-standard interpretation of things when left on my own, so I would get more information from you. And thought non-kind things at you for giving me such contradictory instructions. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/47 "2010-11-16T18:08:36Z")
If I had followed those directions, you would have received 1" cubes as well. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2010, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/48 "2010-11-16T18:11:21Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I’d have cut you seven-dimensional hypercubes. > Yeah, I got some mad knifing skills. 🆒 That’s easier to do if you start with [Hyper-chicken](http://theinfosphere.org/Hyper-Chicken). ---
**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:** [November 17, 2010, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/49 "2010-11-17T00:02:57Z")
> [@j66](#): > > Am I the only one that would have cut one inch strips, all set to be cubed if necessary? > [@Yllaria](#): > > I’d have asked for further instruction, but would have defaulted to strips with a 1" x 1"(close) cross section. . . > [@Tengu](#): > > I’d have assumed strips with a 1" square cross-section, because that’s what was asked for. (‘Square’ isn’t a 3 dimensional shape. It’s a cross-section of a 3 dimensional shape.) . . . Looks like three of us so far. May have missed someone. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/50 "2010-11-17T01:48:29Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > Looks like three of us so far. May have missed someone. Four…that what I would have done if I couldn’t get a hold of the OP for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2010, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/51 "2010-11-17T17:51:26Z")
I’d give you strips the length of the breast, with a square cross-section. The word “strips” rules out cubes. ---
**Author:** ![Raiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3da27b/32.png) [@Raiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raiko)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/52 "2010-11-18T06:09:20Z")
Why do people Epic Fail at math. One inch square mean’s length\*width so the person actually gave you exactly what you asked for regardless of your use of the word strips. I would have assumed had you wanted one inch strips you would have just said one inch knowing that there was no way in hell I was going to horizontally slice a chicken fillet to give you one _n_ by 1 by 1 strips which is what you should have asked for if you really wanted to include superfluous information. your problem wasn’t that you didn’t include enough information it was that you included too much information and in the wrong format to acheive your desired results. The text should have looked like this \*[give me one inch strips] \* period no more information needed and you would’ve gotten exactly what you wanted or would have at least had something legitimate to complain about on this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Raiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3da27b/32.png) [@Raiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raiko)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/53 "2010-11-18T06:25:03Z")
Also your assuption that the operative word in that sentence was “strips” was incorect the operative word is not the subject of the sentence it is the adjective/adverb by which you expect the subject to be acheived. i.e. would you please _hand_ me the phone? the operative word would be _hand_ not _phone_ so if the person I said that too had tossed me the phone he would had to have done so whilst disregarding the operative word. So when you said “go for strips one inch square” the operative word (or in this case words) would have been one inch square since \*one inch square \*cannot possibly be the subject of your sentence the only remaining noun is strips. So gramatically and mathematically you asked him to give you strips [of chicken] to be cut one inch length wise (along the X axis if you want to get technical) and one inch wide (the Y axis) which could only be accomplished if you had very thick fillets so they would be greater than one inch high (the Z axis) I hope my coupled posts encourage you to be more clear when texting and have permenantly solved your poultry preparation issues. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/54 "2010-11-18T14:30:08Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > I’d give you strips the length of the breast, with a square cross-section. The word “strips” rules out cubes. One could assert with equal correctness that the word “cubes” rules out strips. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/55 "2010-11-18T14:58:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > A quarter inch thick breasts? Man, you got some anorexic chickens wherever you’re at. (Are you confusing it perhaps with chicken tenders?) My chicken breasts aren’t a quarter inch but they certainly average less than an inch in thickness and are at no point 2 or more inches. Cutting a strip an inch wide would make sense, but adding the extra dimension creates a lot of dissonance since it implies a second cut. That second cut would either be ridiculous on the thick end - shaving off less than an inch of the thickness to make your strip square - or impossible on the thin end - where your strip is less than an inch thick. In other words, “strips one inch square”, while potentially confusing, would make a lot more sense with a pork loin or something large enough for the “strips with 1 inch square cross section” to many any sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/56 "2010-11-18T16:24:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > One could assert with equal correctness that the word “cubes” rules out strips. “Strips” could be really short, 1" strips. I’d have either given you perfect 1" cubes and then been mad as hell when you complained about it. Or I would call for clarification. I’m an editor and a complete Nazi about clarity. I probably would have refused to do anything until you clarified and I’d probably also rip you a new one for being vague and self-contradictory in the first place. Unless you graciously thanked me for the help, adapted the shape of the chicken to your recipe and went on to serve me a nice dinner, me none the wiser that I’d screwed up. Garbage in, garbage out. You’re going to give vague contradictory directions, well, you’ll get vague, contradictory chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Spud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spud/32/347_2.png) [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2010, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782/57 "2010-11-18T16:55:35Z")
So, the real question that hasn’t been answered by drastic\_quench is… have you apologized yet? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-asked-you-to-cut-boneless-chicken-breasts-in-strips-one-inch-square/560782.md?page=2)