# 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:** 2
**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, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/21 "2018-11-05T13:00:48Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Jerusalem artichoke. Which isn’t an artichoke either. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/22 "2018-11-05T13:06:26Z")
Philadelphia Cream Cheese ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/23 "2018-11-05T13:06:51Z")
Labrador retrievers actually originated on the island of Newfoundland. They and Newfoundland dogs share an origin in the St John’s water dog. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/24 "2018-11-05T13:25:39Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > Turkeys, for that matter. Right. Everyone gets this wrong, but in different ways. In French, Turkeys are literally “from India” (_dinde_). ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/25 "2018-11-05T13:42:33Z")
Chinese Checkers Indian (when referring to native Americans) Causasian ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/26 "2018-11-05T14:04:49Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > What’s German Chocolate Cake? It is a chocolate cake with coconut in it. Damned swallows… Black Forest cake is, however, most likely from Germany. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/27 "2018-11-05T14:12:55Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Bourbon Whiskey, I guess, now I come to think of it. No. It originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/28 "2018-11-05T14:19:26Z")
Vichyssoise, the cold soup we know today, was invented in New York. It was, however, based on a similar hot soup that really indeed come from Vichy. > [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > What’s German Chocolate Cake? It’s a chocolate (but not very chocolatey) cake topped with a sticky and very sweet topping made from coconut and pecans. It’s named for an American brand of baking chocolate, Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. The brand in turn was named for Samuel German who developed that type of chocolate, and James Baker who owned the company that sold it. ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/29 "2018-11-05T14:23:48Z")
Vienna sausages! ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/30 "2018-11-05T14:25:19Z")
AFAIK, Kansas City strip steak doesn’t really have anything to do with Kansas City, although a New York strip does have some relationship to New York. ---
**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, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/31 "2018-11-05T14:28:37Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > No. It originated in Bourbon County, Kentucky. It may have done, it may not. One story is that it was called “Old Bourbon Whiskey” because it came from the area known as “Old Bourbon” (where Bourbon County in Virginia had been), another has it named for Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Others say other things. There’s no definitive documented history though, and no requirement for it to come from Bourbon County now; it just needs to be from the US. ---
**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, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/32 "2018-11-05T14:31:01Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > Vichyssoise, the cold soup we know today, was invented in New York. It was, however, based on a similar hot soup that really indeed come from Vichy. > > It’s a chocolate (but not very chocolatey) cake topped with a sticky and very sweet topping made from coconut and pecans. It’s named for an American brand of baking chocolate, Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate. The brand in turn was named for Samuel German who developed that type of chocolate, and James Baker who owned the company that sold it. Oh…OK. I guess I’d vaguely encountered the American phrase “German Chocolate Cake”, but assumed it was another name for Black Forest Gateau. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/33 "2018-11-05T15:03:21Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > It may have done, it may not. One story is that it was called “Old Bourbon Whiskey” because it came from the area known as “Old Bourbon” (where Bourbon County in Virginia had been), another has it named for Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Others say other things. There’s no definitive documented history though, and no requirement for it to come from Bourbon County now; it just needs to be from the US. Even if so, that doesn’t change my point that it originated in a place named “Bourbon” and is named after the place it originated in. Caesar Salad has nothing to do with any Roman emperor. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/34 "2018-11-05T15:12:04Z")
Scotch tape ---
**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:** [November 5, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/35 "2018-11-05T15:21:08Z")
Interesting Thread name/poster combination, although Yorkshire Pudding does seem to have originated in northern England, possibly even in Yorkshire. I recall a TV show about sexual matters back in the 1970s that observed that everybody named venereal diseases after some _other_ country. syphilis was “The French Disease” to the British (and in Naples), the “Spanish Disease” by the French, and IIRC, “The Polish Disease” by the Russians. Similarly, a Condom was called a “French letter” in the US (and, I think, Britain) I’ll bet a Mexican standoff isn’t even Mexican > **[Mexican standoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_standoff)** > > A Mexican standoff is a confrontation where no strategy exists that allows any party to achieve victory. Any party initiating aggression might trigger everyone's demise. At the same time, the parties are unable to extract themselves from the situation without suffering a loss. As a result, all participants need to maintain the strategic tension, which remains unresolved until some outside event or interparty dialogue makes it possible to resolve it. > The term Mexican standoff was originally used... ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/36 "2018-11-05T15:22:59Z")
In the US we have French’s Mustard, which is not to be confused with the UK’s French Mustard. And of course, as the OP noted, neither are from France. In fact if you go to the [French’s Mustard Web site](https://www.mccormick.com/frenchs), their current tagline is “Not From France”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/37 "2018-11-05T15:38:32Z")
Tabasco sauce isn’t from the Mexican state of Tabasco. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/38 "2018-11-05T15:49:33Z")
Hawaiian pizza was invented by a Greek man in Canada. ---
**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:** [November 5, 2018, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/39 "2018-11-05T16:03:07Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Right. Everyone gets this wrong, but in different ways. In French, Turkeys are literally “from India” (_dinde_). In Hebrew, too (“_hodu_”). In addition to “turkey” and “India”, _hodu_ is also the plural of “give thanks”. Busy word, that. ---
**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, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/40 "2018-11-05T16:08:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Even if so, that doesn’t change my point that it originated in a place named “Bourbon” and is named after the place it originated in. > > Caesar Salad has nothing to do with any Roman emperor. A fair point, in both cases. But Bourbon _might_ be more to do with its distribution than its origin, and the existence of a modern place named Bourbon makes it look to the uninitiated like that’s the source of the drink. Which it pretty routinely isn’t: virtually no (if any) Bourbon comes from Bourbon. This discussion is particularly fun, I recall, when you’re a bartender being lectured by a drunk Englishman who clearly wishes he was a cowboy, and knows nothing about whiskey but thinks he wrote the book on it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000.md?page=3)