# Things which aren't from where their name suggests **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000 "2018-11-05T11:38:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/1 "2018-11-05T11:38:49Z")
Simple idea: I’m English so I’m well aware that in London, nobody knows what a London Broil is. The name is spurious, however tasty the beef may be. There’s a product in the UK - maybe elsewhere too - called French Mustard, which is not French, but was invented in England. It’s (understandably) sometimes confused with the genuinely French Dijon Mustard, but isn’t dijon, and isn’t French. A Danish friend of mine tells me that Danish Pastries are known as Viennese Bread (but in Danish) in Denmark, because nobody there believes they’re indigenous. Maybe slightly disingenuous, that one, because they are now a Danish speciality, but still, there’s sort of a fake origin story in the name. So, in the spirit of fighting ignorance: what else isn’t from the place enshrined within its name? I don’t just mean the various stories about curries invented in the UK which thus masquerade as Indian, unless they’re called something like Bangalore Chicken but were invented in Leicester. I’m specifically looking for misleading geographical names. The examples given are culinary, but I’ll take answers about anything! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/2 "2018-11-05T11:48:02Z")
Scotch eggs are not from Scotland at all. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/3 "2018-11-05T11:51:25Z")
Russian dressing. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/4 "2018-11-05T11:54:22Z")
Moon Pies 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/5 "2018-11-05T12:06:30Z")
French Fries. French Dip (the sandwich) ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/6 "2018-11-05T12:24:01Z")
The Diet of Worms. ---
**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 5, 2018, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/7 "2018-11-05T12:24:18Z")
German chocolate cake. Named after somebody with that surname IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/8 "2018-11-05T12:25:31Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > French Dip (the sandwich) I felt that instinctively when I first heard of it: its American popularity coupled with my never having heard of it till adulthood (despite being pretty conversant with France’s culinary exports to the UK) gave me doubts. It just doesn’t feel like a French thing, somehow! ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/9 "2018-11-05T12:26:34Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > German chocolate cake. Named after somebody with that surname IIRC. What’s German Chocolate Cake? ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/10 "2018-11-05T12:27:36Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > Moon Pies 🙂 And Mars Bars too, presumably. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/11 "2018-11-05T12:30:13Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > The Diet of Worms. That was actually at Worms. (At least the famous one.) The Spanish Steps, on the other hand… ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/12 "2018-11-05T12:35:04Z")
Guinea pigs aren’t from Guinea. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/13 "2018-11-05T12:41:43Z")
Turkeys, for that matter. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/14 "2018-11-05T12:47:55Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Guinea pigs aren’t from Guinea. It’s a “meerschweinchen” in German: a little sea pig. I don’t know that they’re aquatic either. Or pigs, for that matter. ---
**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 5, 2018, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/15 "2018-11-05T12:51:54Z")
In the USA, at least, “Chinese food” and “Mexican food” and “Italian food.” This probably goes for most ethnic food in the USA, come to think of it. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/16 "2018-11-05T12:54:10Z")
Bourbon Whiskey, I guess, now I come to think of it. ---
**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 5, 2018, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/17 "2018-11-05T12:56:10Z")
Panama hats are from Ecuador. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/18 "2018-11-05T12:57:00Z")
Australian shepherd dogs came from the western US. OTOH Aussie cattle dogs are from Australia ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/19 "2018-11-05T12:58:29Z")
Jerusalem artichoke. Jerusalem cricket. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/20 "2018-11-05T12:59:53Z")
Canadian Bacon - American name for cured/smoked ham sliced into circular slabs in America but is of British/Irish cuisine. Canadians just call it “ham”. Some Canadians call back bacon or peameal bacon “Canadian Bacon” but it is not the same thing at all. FTR, “American Bacon” is know just as “bacon” or “streaky bacon” in Canada, the UK, et. al. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000.md?page=2)