# Question relating to restaurant menus **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 26, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259 "2002-03-26T22:26:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/1 "2002-03-26T22:26:01Z")
Or, “Here we go with yet another question from Javaman which is so obscure it’ll undoubtedly sink like a brick of osmium, which as you all know is the heaviest of all the metals”. But what the heck, I"ll ask it anyway. Javawoman and I went to Paradise Cove in Malibu the other day, and had some food at the restaurant there. The restaurant is beach casual and reasonably priced, but with full service and full bar. Those of you in SoCal who’ve been to Gladstones will know what I"m talking about. So I noticed that the menu used “Mor” as a playful mispelling of _more_. One menu subheading read something like, “Soup, Shellfish, And Mor”, and another item, a huge platter which was supposed to be shared, was described as a “Feast for Two or Mor”. So is this some kind of pun on “Mar”, or was there a fad, in the mid 20th century, for comic mispellings on menus? Hamburger Hamlet, another casual chain that originated around that time, does the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![SandWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8491ac/32.png) [@SandWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SandWriter)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/2 "2002-03-26T22:40:22Z")
Javaman, That is exactly why you need to carry a sharpie ™ pen with you at all times. With a sharpie, you can correct the spelling and even change the prices more to your liking! Is that on the same level as “Ye Ol’ Candy Shoppe”? Maybe those people used up all the “e” charact’rs and now th’r’ ar’n’t 'nough to go around? Sandwrit’r ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2002, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/3 "2002-03-26T23:34:58Z")
At my favorite dive they serve **Ho-made** corned beef hash on the weekends. I’m not sure if this says something about the tastyness of the dish or the quality of the kitchen help. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/4 "2002-03-27T04:31:43Z")
Um…you might want to try some other restaurants. According to Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate: Main Entry: mor Pronunciation: 'mor Function: noun Etymology: Danish, literally, humus Date: 1931 : forest humus that forms a layer of largely organic matter abruptly distinct from the mineral soil beneath Maybe they tried “Soup, Shellfish, And Compost,” but it just didn’t sell very well. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/5 "2002-03-27T04:46:26Z")
I’ve been to more than one eatery where I realized the composer of the menu was just plain illiterate. OTOH, I occasionally dine with a friend at a local Denny’s where just _has_ to order Moons Over My Hammy just so she gets to say it. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/6 "2002-03-27T16:41:47Z")
**Ringo** , although I’ve never ordered it, I have an obsessive need to say out loud “Moons Over My Hammy” _every_ time I’m in a Denny’s. Thankfully this is a rare occurrence. ---
**Author:** ![Judith\_Prietht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b19c9b/32.png) [@Judith\_Prietht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Judith_Prietht)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/7 "2002-03-27T17:50:10Z")
And don’t forget IHOP’s Rooty Tooty Fresh and Fruity. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/8 "2002-03-27T18:37:17Z")
i used to eat at this excellant little japanese joint in little tokyo, LA. the menu was written by someone with a limited grasp of the english language. the menu specified the food was served “on the plate” and one of the entrees was titled “Steam Thing”. this was no cutsie error, as the english was a translation of the japanese description of the food. i always got a kick out of “Steam Thing”. my friends and i would, after much Sapporo, sing “Steam Thing- i think i love you! But i want to know fo’ sure! Comeon’ an’ a-sock-it to me! I love you!” * * * “Steam Thing- i think i love you! But i want to know fo’ sure! Comeon’ an’ a-sock-it to me! I love you!” ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/9 "2002-03-27T19:46:10Z")
Oh, and I forgot to ask **Encinitas** : Would one find Ho-made corned beef hash at Ho-dads? Never eaten there, but I hear it’s great. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2002, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-relating-to-restaurant-menus/100259/10 "2002-03-27T20:06:26Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gatopescado \* > the menu specified the food was served “on the plate” and one of the entrees was titled “Steam Thing”. this was no cutsie error, as the english was a translation of the japanese description of the food. “[Susan] stared at a menu nailed to the wall. It was misspelled, of course, because the menu of the folkier kind of restaurant always has to have misspellings in it, so that customers can be lured into a false sense of superiority.” –_Soul Music,_ Terry Pratchett