# Two questions about the British name "chips"... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2015, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183 "2015-03-17T09:13:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/61 "2015-03-20T04:19:15Z")
> [@chaika](#): > > It’s possible to buy peanut butter with sugar added in both the US and the UK. I tried the sweet version a couple of times many years ago but didn’t care for it so I wouldn’t buy it now. But obviously some people do like that kind of PB on both sides of the Atlantic. And you can have smooth or chunky versions of PB in both countries. Well, AFAIK all peanut butter in America always has roughly the same amount of sugar in it. I’m diabetic and I’ve never seen anything called ‘sugar-free’ peanut butter. The only thing I can think of would be so-called ‘natural’ peanut butter, the stuff where the oil separates when it sits and you have to stir it before using. Peanut butter used in candy, like Reese Cups, always has extra sugar in it. I’ve always thought that Brits love their ‘jam’, but come to think of it I’ve never seen peanut butter mentioned in British TV shows or movies. So I guess it could be as foreign & gross sounding to them as things like ‘blood pudding’ is to us… :eek: ---
**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:** [March 20, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/62 "2015-03-20T05:02:13Z")
In Belgium, the land that invented “French” fries, they like mustard on them. I have caroused with Belgians, drinking beer, playing foosball, and snarfing pommes frites à la moutarde. Good times. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/63 "2015-03-20T05:57:26Z")
> [@theR](#): > > 1. It sounds like you’re describing potato skins with toppings, but it could also be steak fries. Skins are partially hollowed potato pieces (like halves or quarters) with skin that are then topped with all sorts of things. Or perhaps something like the thing we have here called “jo-jos”, which are long quarter potato cuts typically having a seasoned floury coating. Often eaten with a ranch dip. Now I must strongly curse you all, every one, for it is late, and between fits of gagging over some of these twisted cuisine ideas, I am wracking my memory for a place within ten miles of here where I can get decent pedestrian F&C. There might be a Skippers at the bottom of the hill, but the cannot be open at this hour. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/64 "2015-03-20T06:16:42Z")
The best condiment for fries is cheese. Gotta be cheese. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2015, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/65 "2015-03-20T06:53:11Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > they must serve something else entirely in foreignville KFC here serves [chips](http://kfc.co.za/c/meal/chips-large/), which would not be out of place in a fish-and-chips place if not for their uniformity and crispiness, but are in the ballpark sizewise. What you have there are what I’d call potato wedges, too. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/66 "2015-03-20T09:14:46Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > In Belgium, the land that invented “French” fries, they like mustard on them. I have caroused with Belgians, drinking beer, playing foosball, and snarfing pommes frites à la moutarde. Good times. Really? I lived there four and a half years and have never heard of this… Of course Belgium has a few regions, lived in Antwerp and Brussels though… ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/67 "2015-03-20T10:10:48Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > Cecil on chips and French fries [What’s the origin of French fries? - The Straight Dope](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2033/whats-the-origin-of-french-fries) I know we all like to pretend Cecil isn’t a real person, but there’s absolutely no way he’s actually **Dex**. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/68 "2015-03-20T10:54:41Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > I’ve always thought that Brits love their ‘jam’, but come to think of it I’ve never seen peanut butter mentioned in British TV shows or movies. So I guess it could be as foreign & gross sounding to them as things like ‘blood pudding’ is to us… :eek: After WWII the British tried to boost African economy and nutrition with the Great Tanganyika Groundnut Scheme. It was an utter failure because, no matter the virtues, who wants to eat something called “groundnut paste?” ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/69 "2015-03-20T11:15:21Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Brits will eat Chip Butty’s: basically a French fry sandwich, which no American above the age of four would eat. Americans eat PB&Js, which Brits think appalling. Leave it to those wacky Brits to come up with some god-awful sounding cuisine like _“chip butty”_, no doubt a veritable heart attack on a plate! :eek: Why can’t they just eat normal food, like my _“bacon, scrapple, cheese & ketchup on buttered toast club sandwich”_? (Sometimes I slide a leaf of lettuce between the bacon and scrapple, if I’m in the mood to eat healthy). BTW: anyone know where I can score some cheap Orlistat? ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/70 "2015-03-20T11:28:33Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Leave it to those wacky Brits to come up with some god-awful sounding cuisine like _“chip butty”_, no doubt a veritable heart attack on a plate! :eek: And, please, permit me to apologize; I don’t mean to pick on the Brits. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if those nutty Canadians, South Africans, Kiwis and Aussies eat chip butty sandwiches, too. Of course in the Land of Oz, they probably call them Chip & Marmite Buttys. ---
**Author:** ![chaika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chaika/32/405_2.png) [@chaika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaika)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/71 "2015-03-20T13:50:56Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > Well, AFAIK all peanut butter in America always has roughly the same amount of sugar in it. I’m diabetic and I’ve never seen anything called ‘sugar-free’ peanut butter. The only thing I can think of would be so-called ‘natural’ peanut butter, the stuff where the oil separates when it sits and you have to stir it before using. Peanut butter used in candy, like Reese Cups, always has extra sugar in it. > > I’ve always thought that Brits love their ‘jam’, but come to think of it I’ve never seen peanut butter mentioned in British TV shows or movies. So I guess it could be as foreign & gross sounding to them as things like ‘blood pudding’ is to us… :eek: The peanut butter I buy is made from peanuts and salt, nothing else. No sugar or oil added. And PB is well known in the UK these days. ---
**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:** [March 20, 2015, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/72 "2015-03-20T14:15:17Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > It wouldn’t surprise me in the least if those nutty Canadians, South Africans, Kiwis and Aussies eat chip butty sandwiches, too. Don’t be ridiculous. South Africans eat Chip Rolls! Unless they can get a Gatsby … ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/73 "2015-03-20T14:17:22Z")
> [@Hail\_Ants](#): > > So I guess it could be as foreign & gross sounding to them as things like ‘blood pudding’ is to us… :eek: Not really. It’s very much a standard item here. The online supermarket I use stocks the following brands: Meridian, Sun-Pat, Biona, Whole Earth, Jif, Skippy, Eskal, Smuckers, Black Cat and their own brand; Waitrose (pretty much every major supermarket here has their own brand including Tesco, Morrisons, Asda, Sainsburys, Marks & Spencer etc) Varieties of the above include smooth, creamy, crunchy, organic, palm-fat free, peanut & raisin, peanut & chilli, peanut & grape jelly, peanut & strawberry jelly. Then there’s the almond butter, no-nut butter (sunflower seeds), 3-nut butter, mixed nut butter, peanut butter ice cream, Reese’s cups, and crunchy peanut butter Kit Kat. Oh, and two varieties of peanut butter for birds; original and with mealworms! ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/74 "2015-03-20T14:31:21Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > Leave it to those wacky Brits to come up with some god-awful sounding cuisine like _“chip butty”_, no doubt a veritable heart attack on a plate! :eek: > > Why can’t they just eat normal food, like my _“bacon, scrapple, cheese & ketchup on buttered toast club sandwich”_? (Sometimes I slide a leaf of lettuce between the bacon and scrapple, if I’m in the mood to eat healthy). > > BTW: anyone know where I can score some cheap Orlistat? We take no lectures from a nation that eats hotdogs. Im a fan of American fast food. I remember the miserable hamburger joints we had here in the UK before McDonalds came to our shores. But my god, hotdogs come straight from Satan’s ass! ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/75 "2015-03-20T15:05:32Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Fries are the matchstick type. Chips are bigger - much bigger. I believe they’re the same thing as what we call “steak fries” here. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/76 "2015-03-20T15:20:16Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > We take no lectures from a nation that eats hotdogs. > > Im a fan of American fast food. I remember the miserable hamburger joints we had here in the UK before McDonalds came to our shores. Never count on the bottom, sometimes things can actually get even worse. I say “I need a McDonalds” as a discreet way to ask where is the nearest loo. > [@](#): > > But my god, hotdogs come straight from Satan’s ass! Were hotdogs not invented by the Germans? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/77 "2015-03-20T15:20:44Z")
> [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](#): > > But my god, hotdogs come straight from Satan’s ass! Frankfurters are all meat (wouldn’t get any more specific than that, but all meat). What are your British bangers made of, breadcrumbs and slaughterhouse floor-sweepings? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/78 "2015-03-20T15:38:43Z")
In my personal experience: - chip butties are served with tomato ketchup and some salt (N.B. I live in the South of England, so expect that up North brown sauce is preferred) - Belgians like mayonnaise best on their chips - although Americans have some excellent cuisine, I cannot accept criticism from a culture that offers squeezy cheese :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/79 "2015-03-20T16:07:31Z")
> [@glee](#): > > …, I cannot accept criticism from a culture that offers squeezy cheese :smack: Yeah, well, on the other hand, we have mouth-watering [scrapple](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrapple), so put that in your bonnet and smoke it, mate! But, I will admit, I decided to change the name of my sandwich to a “bacon, scrapple, cheese & ketchup triple decker toasted _BUTTY_”, and it does sound more appetizing that way! ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2015, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183/80 "2015-03-20T16:13:22Z")
> [@glee](#): > > In my personal experience: > > - chip butties are served with tomato ketchup and some salt (N.B. I live in the South of England, so expect that up North brown sauce is preferred) > > - Belgians like mayonnaise best on their chips > > - although Americans have some excellent cuisine, I cannot accept criticism from a culture that offers squeezy cheese :smack: Really? The English looking down upon OUR food? Maybe the Italians or the French could take such an attitude but we don’t eat Stargazey pie or Black Pudding. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/two-questions-about-the-british-name-chips/715183.md?page=5)