# Non-PC Food Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2016, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587 "2016-05-01T10:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/61 "2016-05-03T17:23:24Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Yes, that’s where it comes from. But just because two words are formed the same or similar way doesn’t mean they are equally offensive. “Irishman” is fine, “Chinaman” is not. > > I’m just going by my perception when I watched it when it was on TV in the 1960s. “Nips” and “Japs” are both regarded as offensive terms now, but were less so then. (They were still offensive, but could be used on TV.) I could be wrong, but I think McHale’s Navy used “nips” exclusively because it was less directly related to Japan and hence less insulting to the Japanese. IIRC, Neal Stephenson claims in Cryptonomicon that “Nip” was almost the universal term used by servicemen in the Pacific, while “Jap” was used “back home” and by servicemen in Europe and Africa. I’ve never verified that, but it’s always made a bit of sense to me. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/62 "2016-05-03T17:30:49Z")
Pillsbury Funny Face drink mix originally included Chinese Cherry (later Choo-Choo Cherry), and Injun Orange (later Jolly Olly Orange). ---
**Author:** ![brainstall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@brainstall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brainstall)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/63 "2016-05-03T17:30:54Z")
I’ve noticed that Niger seed for birds, is now often labeled Nyjer seed. I wonder if there were issues with pronunciation prompting the spelling change. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/64 "2016-05-03T17:48:06Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > IIRC, Neal Stephenson claims in Cryptonomicon that “Nip” was almost the universal term used by servicemen in the Pacific, while “Jap” was used “back home” and by servicemen in Europe and Africa. I’ve never verified that, but it’s always made a bit of sense to me. My father served in the Pacific on the flagship _USS Eldorado_ at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. I just checked his copy the ship’s Cruise Yearbook for 1945 and in the section on operations on the islands it refers to the Japanese four times as Japs and three times as Nips. From this evidence, the terms actually seem to have been used indiscriminately. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/65 "2016-05-03T18:22:59Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Another classic one from Australia, which has long since ceased production under the name, was Golliwog biscuits. > > Here’s a picture. [Golliwog Packet](http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/253095) > Un-PC as they were, They were very tasty biccies! The first thing I ,as an American ,think of when I hear the word Golliwog is a tadpole. It has a different meaning in Australia? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2016, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/66 "2016-05-03T20:13:45Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > The first thing I ,as an American ,think of when I hear the word Golliwog is a tadpole. It has a different meaning in Australia? You are thinking of a [Polliwog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadpole). A [Golliwog](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golliwog) is very different. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/67 "2016-05-04T00:02:45Z")
> [@GreedySmurf](#): > > Another classic one from Australia, which has long since ceased production under the name, was Golliwog biscuits. > > Here’s a picture. [Golliwog Packet](http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/items/253095) > Un-PC as they were, They were very tasty biccies! Australia also had a brand of steel wool called “Nigger Boy”. Which isn’t food, but would be found in a kitchen so I’m gonna mention it anyway. In googling to make sure I got the name correct, it turns out they also had a brand of licorice with the same name. So there, it’s a food. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/68 "2016-05-04T00:50:10Z")
In my Aussie childhood I occasionally enjoyed [Redskins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskins_(confectionery)) and [Chicos](http://smile.amazon.com/Allens-Chicos-190g/dp/B003HF2XAK?sa-no-redirect=1). They’re both kinds of candy/sweets/lollies. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/69 "2016-05-04T02:39:46Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > Northern Idaho grows a massive amount of this. We love to make rape jokes when we are in that area. (Not really tasteless jokes. Dorky things like “where’s my whistle?” and that sort.) It’s also good to shock the children by pointing out the car window at all the rape seed plants. > > It’s awfully pretty in the spring when it’s blooming. I have no idea if the people who live around there call it canola plants. We’ve never stopped to ask. > [@furryman](#): > > Cannola Oil is naturally made from the seeds of the cannola plant which used to be called rape. I remember when I was young hearing about rape seeds. Apparently their still called that in some parts of the world. > [@Kimstu](#): > > There’s nothing intrinsically “non-PC” about the name of the rape plant, except its accidental superficial resemblance to the name of the criminal act. The plant’s name comes from Latin _rapa_ “turnip”, nothing to do with raping people. You have a Canadian Marketing group to thank for the Canola oil name. The plant is still rapeseed, and the original name for the oil was LEAR (Low Eurcic Acid Rapeseed) but to improve sales was changed to Canola, a new word created from Canada and Ola for oil. Thus Canola oil is just a redundant as ATM machine 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/70 "2016-05-04T12:06:38Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > In my Aussie childhood I occasionally enjoyed [Redskins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskins_(confectionery)) and [Chicos](http://smile.amazon.com/Allens-Chicos-190g/dp/B003HF2XAK?sa-no-redirect=1). They’re both kinds of candy/sweets/lollies. What’s wrong with chico? It’s Spanish for boy as in young male person (yep, that’s presumably a chico on the label), does it have another meaning I should be careful with? ---
**Author:** ![GreedySmurf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a698b9/32.png) [@GreedySmurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreedySmurf)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/71 "2016-05-04T13:12:24Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > What’s wrong with chico? It’s Spanish for boy as in young male person (yep, that’s presumably a chico on the label), does it have another meaning I should be careful with? [Chicos thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=694748&highlight=Chicos) I was about to say I recall a thread about them going back a few years. Turned out I started the thread! 😃 You provided good details about the actual meaning that proved to me that it was simply a journalist wanting to pad out his story. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/72 "2016-05-04T13:48:18Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > What’s wrong with chico? It’s Spanish for boy as in young male person (yep, that’s presumably a chico on the label), does it have another meaning I should be careful with? I’m not aware of any offensive meaning in English, either, but the fact that it’s not offensive in the original language doesn’t necessarily mean it can’t be offensive in a target language. (I know you’re not explicitly stating that, but I want to clarify.) For example, “polack” is and has been considered a derogatory term for Polish people, at least in the US, for quite some time now, well before PC was a term everyone knew. “Polak” literally means “a Pole (male)” in Polish. (“Polka” is the feminine counterpart.) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/73 "2016-05-05T23:41:41Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > In my Aussie childhood I occasionally enjoyed [Redskins](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redskins_(confectionery)) and [Chicos](http://smile.amazon.com/Allens-Chicos-190g/dp/B003HF2XAK?sa-no-redirect=1). They’re both kinds of candy/sweets/lollies. > [@Nava](#): > > What’s wrong with chico? It’s Spanish for boy as in young male person (yep, that’s presumably a chico on the label), does it have another meaning I should be careful with? For that matter, redskin is a kind of potato. ---
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/74 "2016-05-09T18:52:49Z")
> [@Moonlitherial](#): > > You have a Canadian Marketing group to thank for the Canola oil name. The plant is still rapeseed, and the original name for the oil was LEAR (Low Eurcic Acid Rapeseed) but to improve sales was changed to Canola, a new word created from Canada and Ola for oil. Thus Canola oil is just a redundant as ATM machine 😉 I wonder if this town ever changed their slogan - [http://0.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/95/52/102246ee8aa5d03fe2326492c9747671.jpg](http://0.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/95/52/102246ee8aa5d03fe2326492c9747671.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Eva\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e495f1/32.png) [@Eva\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eva_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/75 "2016-05-09T19:05:18Z")
> [@Miss\_Woodhouse](#): > > Northern Idaho grows a massive amount of this. We love to make rape jokes when we are in that area. (Not really tasteless jokes. Dorky things like “where’s my whistle?” and that sort.) It’s also good to shock the children by pointing out the car window at all the rape seed plants. > > It’s awfully pretty in the spring when it’s blooming. I have no idea if the people who live around there call it canola plants. We’ve never stopped to ask. It’s still called that in the UK. I remember visiting my college roomie, who lived in a small town in Kent, and being rather taken aback by her English husband going on about the fields of rape behind their house. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/76 "2017-07-11T15:05:12Z")
I saw [this stuff](https://www.ripplefoods.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw7pHLBRDqs-X8hZ3Mgp0BEiQAXIo9rmUMomeAiRqIQNaI5DS-feSbm89LqyY0XmXjNPVAgI4aAj-t8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds) in the grocery store and it caught my eye. I thought it was funny and mentioned to my wife “Where’s junior? Sittin in the alley on his wagon sippin from his bottle of ripple.” She had never heard of “ripple” being used to describe cheap wine associated with alcoholic bums. ---
**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:** [July 11, 2017, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/77 "2017-07-11T17:50:40Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Polak” literally means “a Pole (male)” in Polish. (“Polka” is the feminine counterpart.) So polka music is literally “Polish lady music”? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/78 "2017-07-11T18:24:16Z")
No one mentioned Oreos? Can be a major slur for a black person that acts white. I think it’s mostly used within the black community to attack other black people. “black on the outside” but “white on the inside". They are delicious cookies and I still buy them. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/79 "2017-07-11T18:24:33Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > I saw [this stuff](https://www.ripplefoods.com/?gclid=Cj0KEQjw7pHLBRDqs-X8hZ3Mgp0BEiQAXIo9rmUMomeAiRqIQNaI5DS-feSbm89LqyY0XmXjNPVAgI4aAj-t8P8HAQ&gclsrc=aw.ds) in the grocery store and it caught my eye. > I thought it was funny and mentioned to my wife “Where’s junior? Sittin in the alley on his wagon sippin from his bottle of ripple.” > She had never heard of “ripple” being used to describe cheap wine associated with alcoholic bums. Yep. Ripple was a brand of low-end fortified wine that became known as the drink of choice for, well, winos, along with Night Train and Thunderbird. Sweet, boozy, and cheap! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587/80 "2017-07-11T18:35:57Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Recently, Mom accidentally slipped up and referred to “nigger toes,” and then totally freaked out that she let that word come out of her mouth. Outrageously offensive non-PC joke; proceed at your own risk: That’s what they found in Ed Gein’s Christmas stocking. 😃 Hey, you were warned! 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-pc-food-names/753587.md?page=5)