# Things which aren't from where their name suggests

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000>\
**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:** 4

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**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, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/61 "2018-11-05T20:25:22Z")

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> [@BwanaBob](#):
>
> Got one.
> 
> Salisbury Steak - is not from Salisbury. It’s another “named after somebody” situation.

Good one. I knew Salisbury Steak wasn’t really a thing in Salisbury, but wasn’t entirely sure if it ever had been.

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**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, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/62 "2018-11-05T20:27:26Z")

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> [@CalMeacham](#):
>
> When I was a kid “Chinese” was attached to a far-out variant of something familiar, so “Chinese Checkers” was the name given o the checkers-like game played on a hexahedral board with marbles.
> 
> Similarly, we had “Chinese Apple” for “Pomegranate”. There was a “Chinese Auction” that followed different rules\*.
> 
> But “Chinese Jump Rope”, I’m surprised to learn, really IS Chinese in origin (although it’s also called “French Skipping” in the US and “American Ropes” in Scotland) – [Chinese jump rope - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_jump_rope)
> 
> \*and which may actually be Chinese in origin, but probably isn’t – [Chinese auction - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_auction)

And Chinese Whispers, I imagine, isn’t Chinese either.

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**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/63 "2018-11-05T21:05:47Z")

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> [@mcgato](#):
>
> Philadelphia Cream Cheese

To be fair, Philadelphia Cream Cheese WAS produced in Phillie for a long stretch. By the time the production facilities moved elsewhere, the brand name had become too well known to change.

For new additions to the list, how about “Irish Spring” soap? Produced by Colgate-Palmolive (an American company), originally launched in Germany in 1970, introduced to the U.S. in 1972, and apparently reviled by actual citizens of Ireland for its relentlessly stereotyped ad campaign.

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**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/64 "2018-11-05T21:24:14Z")

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> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#):
>
> And Mars Bars too, presumably.

I’m the only one old enough to remember a Milky Way bar?

(Possibly UK only)

j

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**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, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/65 "2018-11-05T21:32:38Z")

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> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> I’m the only one old enough to remember a Milky Way bar?
> 
> (Possibly UK only)
> 
> j

Milky Ways are most definitely still a well known and popular thing, at least in the US.  
[http://www.milkywaybar.com/](http://www.milkywaybar.com/)

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**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, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/66 "2018-11-05T21:52:17Z")

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> [@davidm](#):
>
> Milky Ways are most definitely still a well known and popular thing, at least in the US.  
> [http://www.milkywaybar.com/](http://www.milkywaybar.com/)

Oh boy, this is where things get somewhat confusing. They’re slightly different candy bars in US vs global markets. A UK/Euro Milky Way is like a US Three Musketeers (but smaller), and a US Milky Way is like a UK Mars bar. That is, US Milky Way has a layer of caramel on it; non-US Milky way is just nougat and chocolate. Meanwhile, US Mars bars are chocolate, nougat, and almonds, like a Snickers (formerly Marathon in the UK, but looking it up, it looks like that name has been gone since the early 90s) bar without the caramel layer. Non-US Mars are caramel, nougat, and milk chocolate.

So -\>

US:

3 Musketeers: Nougat, milk chocolate  
Milky Way: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate  
Mars: Nougat, milk chocolate, almonds  
Snickers: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate, almonds

UK (and elsewhere):  
Milky Way: Nougat, milk chocolate  
Mars: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate  
Snickers (and Marathon once upon a time): Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate, almonds

I think I’ve got that right, but somebody please double check for me. It’s easily confused.

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**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/67 "2018-11-05T21:59:59Z")

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Regarding the Milky Way…

> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> Oh boy, this is where things get somewhat confusing. They’re slightly different candy bars in US vs global markets.

Well, we’d expect that, surely.😃

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**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/68 "2018-11-05T22:03:03Z")

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Fajitas aren’t Mexican; they’re from South Texas. Same with chili…it’s from San Antonio.

Except for Cincinnati style, which is actually derived from a Greek stew and has no relation to the Texas dish.

And… croissants aren’t French. They were originally baked in Austria.

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**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/69 "2018-11-05T22:09:35Z")

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> [@Treppenwitz](#):
>
> I’m the only one old enough to remember a Milky Way bar?
> 
> (Possibly UK only)
> 
> j

We still have something by that name here in the U.S. Quite popular.

Can’t say it doesn’t originate in the Milky Way, though.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/70 "2018-11-05T22:13:18Z")

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Kiwifruit is native to China, which is also grows the majority of the world’s crop. New Zealand got in on it, which lead to its renaming, but is only the 3rd largest grower. Italy grows more!

In the world of beers, many are no longer produced in the area associated with their name. E.g., Olympia beer hasn’t been brewed near Olympia WA in 15 years. It’s _not_ the water.

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**Author:** ![Saltire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saltire/32/553_2.png) [@Saltire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saltire)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/71 "2018-11-05T22:13:46Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> US:
> 
> 3 Musketeers: Nougat, milk chocolate  
> Milky Way: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate  
> Mars: Nougat, milk chocolate, almonds  
> Snickers: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate, almonds
> 
> UK (and elsewhere):  
> Milky Way: Nougat, milk chocolate  
> Mars: Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate  
> Snickers (and Marathon once upon a time): Caramel, nougat, milk chocolate, almonds
> 
> I think I’ve got that right, but somebody please double check for me. It’s easily confused.

In the US, Mars bars have whole almonds. Haven’t seen one in a long time, but then again I’m not allowed candy anymore, so I don’t shop for it much.

Snickers has peanuts, though.

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**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, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/72 "2018-11-05T22:14:51Z")

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> [@Saltire](#):
>
> Snickers has peanuts, though.

Ah, shit!!! Of course I knew that! :smack: That’s why I asked y’all to check my work. 😃 I knew I would screw something up looking at the words caramel, nougat, milk chocolate, and almonds so finely.

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**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/73 "2018-11-05T22:15:02Z")

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> [@Don\_Draper](#):
>
> For new additions to the list, how about “Irish Spring” soap? Produced by Colgate-Palmolive (an American company), originally launched in Germany in 1970, introduced to the U.S. in 1972, and apparently reviled by actual citizens of Ireland for its relentlessly stereotyped ad campaign.

[That’s why I use it, too!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjSNrg7T0Wo) /BadIrishAccent

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**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/74 "2018-11-05T22:18:46Z")

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Here’s your handy list of terms that the English and the French like to ascribe to each other, AFAICT always incorrectly:

Syphilis: “French pox”, _la maladie anglaise_. (Probably of pre-Columbian American origin.)

Unauthorized departure: “French leave”, _filer à l’anglaise_. (Universal.)

Condom: “French letter”, _capote anglaise_. (Probably known since antiquity, first modern European attestation in Renaissance Italy.)

Seam treatment (in sewing) with the raw edges enclosed inside the seam allowance: “French seam”, _couture anglaise_. Similar seam treatments documented at least as early as the 10th century in Scandinavia.

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**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, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/75 "2018-11-05T22:30:34Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> Unauthorized departure: “French leave”, _filer à l’anglaise_. (Universal.)

I’m wondering if this is like an “Irish goodbye” around here. That’s a term used when you’re at a party and just suddenly leave without announcing it, saying goodbye to the hosts, etc.

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/76 "2018-11-05T22:35:19Z")

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> [@pulykamell](#):
>
> I’m wondering if this is like an “Irish goodbye” around here. That’s a term used when you’re at a party and just suddenly leave without announcing it, saying goodbye to the hosts, etc.

Same thing, yes.

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/77 "2018-11-05T22:43:59Z")

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Missed edit window: It should be called the nationality-neutral JUAL. As in “Dan and Hilda JUAL”. (for “Just Up And Left”) 🙂

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**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, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/78 "2018-11-05T22:45:00Z")

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> [@Kimstu](#):
>
> Here’s your handy list of terms that the English and the French like to ascribe to each other, AFAICT always incorrectly:
> 
> Syphilis: “French pox”, _la maladie anglaise_. (Probably of pre-Columbian American origin.)
> 
> Unauthorized departure: “French leave”, _filer à l’anglaise_. (Universal.)
> 
> Condom: “French letter”, _capote anglaise_. (Probably known since antiquity, first modern European attestation in Renaissance Italy.)
> 
> Seam treatment (in sewing) with the raw edges enclosed inside the seam allowance: “French seam”, _couture anglaise_. Similar seam treatments documented at least as early as the 10th century in Scandinavia.

I’ve often wondered about French Seams! I imagined they weren’t French, but didn’t know there was a reciprocal misnomer. Wouldn’t surprise me to hear Swiss Darning is knackers-all to do with Switzerland either.

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/79 "2018-11-05T22:51:10Z")

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I don’t think Dutch ovens are a concept from the Netherlands - are they?

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**Author:** ![DavidwithanR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3bc359/32.png) [@DavidwithanR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidwithanR)\
**Post date:** [November 5, 2018, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-which-arent-from-where-their-name-suggests/824000/80 "2018-11-05T22:57:07Z")

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I think of both “Dutch oven” and “Chinese checkers” as meaning “…the fake or wrong type, from a place where they supposedly do everything wrong or backwards or messed up”

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