# It's OK to join the 21st century my clerk tells me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 17, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849 "2018-01-17T19:23:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/1 "2018-01-17T19:23:30Z")
I am old school but not old. My parents were 40 and 43 when I was born so older than usual. The other day I asked for gem clip meaning paper clip. No one had ever heard the term **gem clip.** Also, I don’t anymore but we always referred to white potatoes as “Irish potatoes”. Am I the only one living in the 19th century? I am from Georgia so this could be a southern thing. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/2 "2018-01-17T19:34:18Z")
I have never heard either of those terms. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/3 "2018-01-17T19:35:09Z")
I’ve heard “Irish potatoes” and probably wouldn’t blink if I heard someone refer to potatoes that way, although I’m more likely to call them “white potatoes” if I need to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term “gem clip” and would have no idea what you were talking about if you said it to me. I wonder, does it come from a brand name? ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/4 "2018-01-17T19:39:42Z")
What about sweet milk, as opposed to buttermilk. I have heard Irish potatoes and gem clip. There are others, I am sure. Can’t think of them just now. Any body else? ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/5 "2018-01-17T19:43:44Z")
Interesting. “Gem” is Swedish for paperclip (not pronounced the same way as the English word, closer to “game”). Looking into its etymology suggests it comes from a trade mark “gem paperclips”, and a Google image search gets some relevant results. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/6 "2018-01-17T19:44:41Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > I’ve heard “Irish potatoes” and probably wouldn’t blink if I heard someone refer to potatoes that way, although I’m more likely to call them “white potatoes” if I need to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. > > I don’t think I’ve ever heard the term “gem clip” and would have no idea what you were talking about if you said it to me. I wonder, does it come from a brand name? [From Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_clip) > [@](#): > > **The most common type of wire paper clip still in use, the Gem paper clip, was never patented, but it was most likely in production in Britain in the early 1870s by “The Gem Manufacturing Company”** , according to the American expert on technological innovations, Professor Henry J. Petroski.[3] He refers to an 1883 article about “Gem Paper-Fasteners”, praising them for being “better than ordinary pins” for “binding together papers on the same subject, a bundle of letters, or pages of a manuscript”.[4] Since the 1883 article had no illustration of this early “Gem”, it may have been different from modern paper clips of that name. The earliest documentation of its existence is an 1894 advertisement for “Gem Paper Clips”.[5] In 1904 Cushman & Denison registered a trade mark for the “Gem” name in connection with paper clips. The announcement stated that it had been used since March 1, 1892, which may have been the time of its introduction in the United States.[5] Paper clips are still sometimes called “Gem clips”, and in Swedish the word for any paper clip is “gem”. However, Clippy was no gem. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/7 "2018-01-17T19:49:14Z")
I’d know what a gem clip was, though I’d never heard anyone using that to describe it. I do remember “Irish potatoes,” though I grew up in potato country and the farmers were Polish. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/8 "2018-01-17T19:49:25Z")
First thing I thought of when you said gem was actually a binder clip. As I read, I figured it was a brand name. And if you’d said Irish potatoes to me, I’d have assumed it was a way of preparing spuds. I could tell you tales about working with young uns, tho… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/9 "2018-01-17T19:49:41Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > What about sweet milk, as opposed to buttermilk. I have heard Irish potatoes and gem clip. There are others, I am sure. Can’t think of them just now. > Any body else? Oh Yes, Sweet milk. How could I have forgotten that one? ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/10 "2018-01-17T19:50:24Z")
I always thought Gem was a brand name, but apparently it is or has become a generic description. > [@](#): > > Most paper clips are variations of the Gem type introduced in the 1890s or earlier, characterized by the almost two full loops made by the wire. source: wikipedia ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/11 "2018-01-17T19:51:57Z")
I thought “sweet milk” was specifically unpasteurized and unhomogenized, more or less straight from the cow. I didn’t realize it was just opposed to buttermilk. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/12 "2018-01-17T19:54:43Z")
I would think Irish potatoes was a recipe. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/13 "2018-01-17T20:28:37Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > I would think Irish potatoes was a recipe. Made with sweet milk and Gem clips. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/14 "2018-01-17T21:49:28Z")
I have heard the term “gem” in reference to paperclips before, but not often. If asked for one, it would probably take me a few moments of my brain gears turning to figure it out. I’m not even sure what is meant by “white” potatoes? Non-sweet? Or regular “starchy” potatoes like Russetts (brown on the outside, white inside) as opposed to yellow ones like Yukon Golds? Or like waxy red potatoes (white on the inside) ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/15 "2018-01-17T23:48:17Z")
You don’t hear “steam shovel” much anymore, but for some reason pavement rollers are still called “steam rollers.” ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2018, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/16 "2018-01-17T23:57:37Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’m not even sure what is meant by “white” potatoes? Non-sweet? Or regular “starchy” potatoes like Russetts (brown on the outside, white inside) as opposed to yellow ones like Yukon Golds? Or like waxy red potatoes (white on the inside) Just a plain ol’ brown on the outside potato. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/17 "2018-01-18T00:07:52Z")
My Mother called cornbread; eggbread. I think it might have been from her Mother who was of dutch origin. Her cornbread was more cakey and sweet than traditional cornbread. Ooh! I am gonna make some, right now. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/18 "2018-01-18T00:32:32Z")
> [@Buttercup\_Smith](#): > > I am old school but not old. My parents were 40 and 43 when I was born so older than usual. The other day I asked for gem clip meaning paper clip. No one had ever heard the term **gem clip.** Also, I don’t anymore but we always referred to white potatoes as “Irish potatoes”. Am I the only one living in the 19th century? I am from Georgia so this could be a southern thing. I’ve heard this term exactly one time, while stationed at Ft. Stewart. It was a clerk at the phone company, and I had to ask what the heck a “gem clip” was. Got a look like I was a few bricks short of a full hod, an exasperated sigh, and the explanation. Partly why I still remember it today. So on that slim evidence, I’m going to go with a regional thing. **AskNott** thats because a hot roller (vs a vibrating roller) still uses steam to heat the roller drum. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/19 "2018-01-18T00:32:35Z")
Irish potatoes–sure. My parents from Southern Virginia 1920s-1940s, always called them that. Gem clip–I would have known that ,but never heard anyone say it in real life. Sweet milk(as opposed to buttermilk)–sure. Parents and grandparents Southern Virginia. ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2018, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849/20 "2018-01-18T00:35:52Z")
I would instantly know what a gem clip is. In my case because in my youth (school) I would purchase Gem brand paper clips. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-ok-to-join-the-21st-century-my-clerk-tells-me/806849.md?page=2)