# "Tuna fish" - why aren't any other kinds of fish redundant?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 3, 2009, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124 "2009-11-03T02:05:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124/81 "2009-11-09T19:47:49Z")

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> [@Johanna](#):
>
> “Chili pepper berry con quadruped carne”
> 
> …

That could be a little too non-specific, after all rats, mice and porcupines are quadrupeds but I don’t want them in my chili.

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**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\
**Post date:** [November 9, 2009, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124/82 "2009-11-09T20:54:36Z")

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> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Yes. We liked them, but I couldn’t imagine giving that to a child today.

I give 'em to myself, every once in a while. File under “comfort food.”

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**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\
**Post date:** [November 15, 2009, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124/83 "2009-11-15T17:18:17Z")

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> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#):
>
> they called it “tuna fish” so people knew what it was – no one around there had ever heard of “tuna” before.

As another corroborating example, we see the same thing happening in America now with the phrase “chai tea.” That always cracks me up, because _chai_ is nothing but the Hindi word for tea itself-- tea in general, any kind of tea at all. A plain Lipton’s bag is called _chai_ in Hindi. The Hindi word is unmarked, it’s just the everyday generic word. But as a foreignism, a marked form, it becomes taken as a name for some exotic beverage. So we make the redundant phrase “chai tea” so Americans will know what it is. The beverage that Americans call “chai tea” is actually called _masala chai_ in India, because _masala_ means ‘spice blend’.

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**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\
**Post date:** [August 31, 2012, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-fish-why-arent-any-other-kinds-of-fish-redundant/516124/84 "2012-08-31T03:01:52Z")

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> [@Siam\_Sam](#):
>
> Did anyone else grow up with “pot pies”? Little round meat pies you would heat up in the oven pre-microwave days. A smaller, inferior form of the British meat pie found in pubs.

> [@John\_Mace](#):
>
> Yes. We liked them, but I couldn’t imagine giving that to a child today. Probably loaded with salt and fat.

> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#):
>
> I give 'em to myself, every once in a while. File under “comfort food.”

Now that they come in cardboard dishes, vice aluminium, and can be nuked, I buy them occasionally for breakfast. Put one in the microwave and let it cook while I go shower…

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