# Ketchup or Catsup? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593 "2011-06-23T19:05:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/1 "2011-06-23T19:05:59Z")
Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/2 "2011-06-23T19:20:58Z")
Ketchup ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/3 "2011-06-23T19:44:37Z")
Since it’s a word taken from the Chinese, and the original sounds like “ketchup”, and it was originally spelled “ketchup”, I have to go with that one. I don’t know where “catsup” came from. The only time I’ve heard it pronounced was on a Del Monte commercial. I think “catsup” needs to go the way of the misguided “hiccough”. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/4 "2011-06-23T19:59:03Z")
You can find old references to it also spelled “catchup.” Maybe “catsup” was an attempt to Wade-Giles it? ETA: A search on this message board reveals 14 pages of “catsup” going back to 2001, and 30 pages of “ketchup” going back only to 2009. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/5 "2011-06-23T20:12:30Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Since it’s a word taken from the Chinese, and the original sounds like “ketchup”, and it was originally spelled “ketchup”, I have to go with that one. … I thought it came from a Malay word – the Indonesian word “kecap” is related – though there are similar words in Chinese dialects that may be cognate. However, “catsup” does seem to be an attempt to make it spell like some unrelated English words. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/6 "2011-06-23T20:16:17Z")
Even the Perfect Master doesn’t know. ([How come they call it “ketchup” sometimes and “catsup” other times?](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/683/how-come-they-call-it-ketchup-sometimes-and-catsup-other-times)) ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/7 "2011-06-23T20:17:49Z")
Unless your Homer Simpson who LOVES CATsup but hates Ketchup 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/8 "2011-06-23T21:06:59Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > Unless your Homer Simpson who LOVES CATsup but hates Ketchup 🙂 Whenever someone says catsup, I think of Mr. Burns at the grocery store. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/9 "2011-06-23T21:46:51Z")
I grew up in Heinz territory in western Pennsylvania, so to me, it’s always been “ketchup.” ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/10 "2011-06-23T21:48:07Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Whenever someone says catsup, I think of Mr. Burns at the grocery store. 😃 What about the Burn’s O’s? You know this thread needed a poll 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/11 "2011-06-23T22:45:59Z")
Ketchup, and however you spell it, it’s a vile smelly goop. IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/12 "2011-06-23T23:12:27Z")
Dad pronounced it ‘cats-up’. ISTR it being called ‘Catsup’ on the bottles we used at home (late-'60s through the '70s). So I say and spell ‘catsup’. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/13 "2011-06-23T23:38:45Z")
‘Ketchup’. ---
**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:** [June 23, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/14 "2011-06-23T23:42:51Z")
[Ketchup.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrGeOHpEGk0) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/15 "2011-06-23T23:43:59Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I think “catsup” needs to go the way of the misguided “hiccough”. Calm down. Here, have a doughknot. ---
**Author:** ![Laggard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9de053/32.png) [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/16 "2011-06-24T00:07:02Z")
Old friend of mine always pronounces it Cats-Up. Only person I’ve ever know that did this. ---
**Author:** ![zombywoof](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/9e8a1a/32.png) [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/17 "2011-06-24T00:17:09Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > it was originally spelled “ketchup” The earliest spelling cited in the OED is “Catchup”, in 1699. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/18 "2011-06-24T00:23:12Z")
Mustard. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/19 "2011-06-24T00:42:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Mustard. 😕 Is that something like _moutarde?_ ---
**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:** [June 24, 2011, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593/20 "2011-06-24T01:19:40Z")
\*\*Ketchup or Catsup? \*\* Yes. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ketchup-or-catsup/586593.md?page=2)