If I told you we're having dressing at Thanksgiving, what would you think?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I just was talking to a couple people who, when I mentioned we’d be having lots of dressing come Thanksgiving, didn’t know I was talking about stuffing. They were like “Ohh, so you thinking of making up a lot of salad?”

I had to explain to them that, while dressing was also something you put on salad, there was another type of dressing that was another word for stuffing.

I dunno, is this a regional thing? I always grew up hearing both. To me, stuffing always equaled dressing and vica versa. I always figured they were the same other than stuffing being made inside turkey and dressing outside.

What say you? You ever hear stuffing refered to as dressing?

2

Always called it stuffing. But I have heard of some people calling it dressing and even forcemeat.

3

I would think of salad dressing. Not stuffing.

4

If I knew you were talking about Thanksgiving dinner I would assume stuffing.

5

I would know what you are referring to.

6

I’d think you were weird–but I’d know you meant stuffing.

I know plenty of weird folk–I think my mother might even be one.

7

I always call it stuffing, but having heard people call it dressing (especially at Thanksgiving) I would know exactly what they meant.

8

I don’t use the term myself, but I’d know what you were talking about.

9

How odd. I’ve always heard both terms used wherever I went. It’s just one of those things you start thinking everyone knows, I guess, and you laugh nervously a bit while saying “you’re joking right?” when you find out they don’t know about it.

And then you realize you’ve been the sheltered one, in a way. : p Just for thinking everyone would know the terms and stuff people use for foods and things.

10

I wouldn’t have a clue what you were talking about.

11

I suspect this comes from an old phrase like “dressing” the turkey or something like that. A Turey with all the fixins would be fully “dressed”. Course I might be wrong

Let’s see…

I’m probably wrong: http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/26/messages/635.html

12

Wasn’t the word stuffing considered vulgar at one point, so people began using the word dressing to be genteel? :confused:

13

If you said “turkey and dressing”, I would know what you meant. But if you didn’t establish the turkey context-- “Take that dressing there and put it on the table”-- I would look for the liquid stuff that goes on salads.

No one I know personally has ever called it anything but “stuffing.”

14

I would think you were from the south. The only person I’ve ever known who used the word dressing instead of stuffing was originally from Alabama. I’m from the NYC/NJ area if that helps.

15

I would know precisely what you meant, and I would assume you meant cornbread dressing too. It’s a southern thing as far as I know.

16

Stuffing is cooked inside the bird. Dressing is cooked separately. But yeah, same thing.

17

My family is from the northeast and we used the terms equally. However, when I moved to the south I was told that “stuffing” is cooked inside the bird, while “dressing” is similar but made in a pan on stove. So, here you have the savory onion/thyme stuffing inside the turkey, but also pans of cornbread or oyster dressing. Whatever you call it, it’s my favorite part of the dinner!

18

I would assume that you had previously celebrated your Thanksgiving Dinners in the nude.

What?

19

Ditto. And I would know what you meant.

20

I wouldn’t take it as stuffing, but perhaps a way to say all the usually foods, or some sort of turkey sauce.

And someone saying we’ll have lots of dressing seems weird, you should have enough stuffing for the people you are serving, I don’t see the reason to say we’ll have ‘lots’ of it.