# Origin of 'mac and cheese'. Sorta. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2009, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460 "2009-11-13T17:52:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/21 "2009-11-16T19:26:49Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Growing up in NZ, we would have “Macaroni Cheese”, in the same way we would have “Cauliflower Cheese”.i Same in the UK. “Macaroni and cheese” sounds oddly stilted. I was also horrified to discover that in America, “mac and cheese” is often something that comes out of a box! I had never entertained the idea that it could be anything other than home-made yumminess. ---
**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 16, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/22 "2009-11-16T19:31:43Z")
Sorry, I forgot to add. I grew up with this dish being called Mac 'n Cheese in the '60’s and '70’s. My parents who also called it this were from the '30’s and '40’s so it isn’t a recent name. Back to the too lazy to call it the proper name, my kids also like a dish made with frankfurters mixed with baked beans. We call it Beanie Weanies… better let my neighbors know I’m dragging down the neighborhood. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/23 "2009-11-16T19:40:45Z")
I saw it referred to as “Mac-a-chee” in a Trixie Belden book when I was young. I remember thinking, “What a dweeb” when I saw it, it was Trixie’s almost-twin brother and he was just way too excited about it. That’s the second time this week the SDMB has triggered a Trixie Belden flashback. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/24 "2009-11-16T19:41:28Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Hearing “mac n’ cheese” makes me think of lazy, poor people. If you’re so lazy that you can’t call something what it is, then no wonder you live in the ghetto. Yes, I know that that’s not “proper”; I can’t help what I think in this respect. I’m with **Spud** in thinking that this attitude seems a tad, um, non-fact-based concerning the demographics of popular abbreviated nicknames for consumer products. I’m reminded of a former boss’s boss who used to put on his [Burb](http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6010420/0~2376780~6009391~6010420?origin=leftnav) and jump in his [Beemer](http://www.bmw.com/) to go have a [Mac](http://www.themacallan.com/) at the latest hot-spot bar. With that guy’s lazy inability to call products by their real names, it was no wonder he lived in the ghetto. Oh, wait a minute… ---
**Author:** ![TWDuke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e495f1/32.png) [@TWDuke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TWDuke)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/25 "2009-11-16T19:42:08Z")
Personal memories are notoriously unreliable, however it seems to me it was always called “macaroni and cheese” in my family in the '70s (and it still is). I was a bit confused when someone offered me some “beefy mac” (macaroni and cheese with ground beef) in 1982 – especially since his name was Mac. Come to think of it… In any case, it was certainly in common usage before “Friends.” > [@Spud](#): > > Back to the too lazy to call it the proper name, my kids also like a dish made with frankfurters mixed with baked beans. We call it Beanie Weanies… better let my neighbors know I’m dragging down the neighborhood. Don’t you dare call them franks and beans either. And if I hear you call your Labrador retriever a Lab, I may succumb to the vapors. ---
**Author:** ![whole\_bean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/96bed5/32.png) [@whole\_bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whole_bean)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/26 "2009-11-16T20:33:19Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > I’m with **Spud** in thinking that this attitude seems a tad, um, non-fact-based concerning the demographics of popular abbreviated nicknames for consumer products. > > I’m reminded of a former boss’s boss who used to put on his [Burb](http://shop.nordstrom.com/C/6010420/0~2376780~6009391~6010420?origin=leftnav) and jump in his [Beemer](http://www.bmw.com/) to go have a [Mac](http://www.themacallan.com/) at the latest hot-spot bar. With that guy’s lazy inability to call products by their real names, it was no wonder he lived in the ghetto. Oh, wait a minute… believe it or not, it’s actually [bimmer](http://www.bimmer-mag.com/) ---
**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:** [November 16, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/27 "2009-11-16T20:52:24Z")
> [@whole\_bean](#): > > believe it or not, it’s actually [bimmer](http://www.bimmer-mag.com/) It’s both, although some say “beemer” is for BMW bikes, while “bimmer” is for the cars. ---
**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 16, 2009, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/28 "2009-11-16T21:06:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s both, although some say “beemer” is for BMW bikes, while “bimmer” is for the cars. Go back to the getto you slackers… it is a Bavarian Motor Works automobile. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/29 "2009-11-16T21:14:20Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Growing up in NZ, we would have “Macaroni Cheese”, in the same way we would have “Cauliflower Cheese”. Yes, thank you… I started reading this and was thinking “Macaroni **and** cheese”… that doesn’t sound quite right". Ohh.. weekend memories… the cheese on top grilled to golden brown, and my mother used to put croutons on top too (or at least small squares of bread that then got well toasted during the grilling). It’s been so long… ☹ guess I might have to make some for myself. 🙂 Mac ‘n’ cheese sounds like an Americanism (to my ears) and I only recall encountering it on US television. > [@](#): > > Spaghetti most generally referred to a tinned spaghetti with tomato sauce (from Watties). Anything else was Spaghetti Bolognaise, or Spaghetti and Meatball, and so on. Definitely, and I don’t recall hearing the “Spag-bog” contraction until university or student flatting… but then we spoke proper in my house. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2009, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/30 "2009-11-16T21:29:30Z")
Thanks for the non-warning. I’m not accusing anyone of really being lazy. I said that that’s my _impression_, and I also said that I know it’s wrong. ---
**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:** [November 17, 2009, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/31 "2009-11-17T02:08:28Z")
> [@Spud](#): > > Go back to the getto you slackers… it is a Bavarian Motor Works automobile. Rather, Bayerische Motoren Werke, although it happens to also work out in English. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/32 "2009-11-17T03:55:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It’s both, although some say “beemer” is for BMW bikes, while “bimmer” is for the cars. For me it’s always “Beemer” (capped, because it’s a proper name). “Bimmer” is impossible for me, because that would rhyme with “trimmer,” and I’ve never said it or heard it that way. I also don’t like “Beamer,” because that looks like it’s participating in gymnastics or something or being shot out of a starship. ---
**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 17, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/33 "2009-11-17T04:46:50Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Thanks for the non-warning. > > I’m not accusing anyone of really being lazy. I said that that’s my _impression_, and I also said that I know it’s wrong. Please don’t take anything personally… I hope you are laughing with us. I know you said it was just you and you knew it wasn’t logical. It is just that when someone puts yellow cheesy goodness covering curved tubes of pasta in front of me that is just the name many of us call it. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2009, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460/34 "2009-11-17T05:09:15Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > Hearing “mac n’ cheese” makes me think of lazy, poor people. If you’re so lazy that you can’t call something what it is, then no wonder you live in the ghetto. If someone speaks differently than you, it is almost never because of laziness. > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > Yeah, yeah, I know. You can make up the most obscure rendering of anything commonplace, and someone somewhere will say, “That’s the way I’ve always heard it.” I think **samclem** sorta bolsters my point that the widespread usage is of relatively recent vintage. On the other hand, you should realize that it is pretty common for people to think certain words or phrases to be newer that they actually are. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-mac-and-cheese-sorta/517460.md?page=1)