# What does your family call sliced lunch meat? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207 "2019-03-16T00:00:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 16, 2019, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/21 "2019-03-16T03:45:25Z")
I probably say “deli meat” most often, but I voted “cold cuts,” since that’s what I remember most commonly using growing up. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/22 "2019-03-16T03:53:10Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > It can be simple like sliced ham or roast beef. Or more exotic like liverwurst, salami, or pickle loaf. We call sliced ham ‘ham’, roast beef ‘roast beef’, liverwurst ‘liverwurst’ or ‘Braunschweiger’, salami ‘salami’, and pickle loaf ‘pickle loaf’. In aggregate, I guess we call them ‘lunch meat’. From SoCal. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/23 "2019-03-16T04:28:25Z")
I never called them anything but “cold cuts.” ---
**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:** [March 18, 2019, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/24 "2019-03-18T11:15:11Z")
I voted other, meaning, “all of the above.” ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/25 "2019-03-18T12:08:40Z")
I’m pretty sure as I grew up we always called it lunch meat, unless specifying ham or bologna or whatever. And that’s how we continue to refer to it. Spent my formative years in Baltimore county. ---
**Author:** ![Bayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bayaker/32/3454_2.png) [@Bayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/26 "2019-03-18T12:20:01Z")
Always lunch meat, both in my Southern Merlin youth and in Texas. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/27 "2019-03-18T12:40:34Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I call it by whatever thing it’s made from, i.e., sliced ham, sliced chicken, bologna, etc. Same here; I voted “other”. I do refere to it as “lunch meat” on my shopping list as I don’t necessarily know what I’ll be in the mood for when I get to the store. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/28 "2019-03-18T13:00:24Z")
I think I kind of use all those terms. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/29 "2019-03-18T13:32:59Z")
As a child, my Wife called it “Wiggly meat” and we use that term “Deli meat” we use to refer to sliced meat bought from the deli by the pound. ---
**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 18, 2019, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/30 "2019-03-18T13:47:29Z")
I’d refer to the specific meat product - if I were to use a collective, it’d be _charcuterie_, although that’s slightly more encompassing than the list in the OP. ---
**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 18, 2019, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/31 "2019-03-18T13:48:12Z")
‘Cold cuts’ or ‘stuff from the deli’, not ‘deli meats’. Midlantic - Northeast ---
**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 18, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/32 "2019-03-18T13:59:18Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I’d refer to the specific meat product - if I were to use a collective, it’d be _charcuterie_, although that’s slightly more encompassing than the list in the OP. ETA: I’m in South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/33 "2019-03-18T14:25:04Z")
Minnesotan - Lunch meat is any packaged meat at the store used for sandwiches. Same if I buy it from the deli. If it’s leftover meat (roast, ham, chicken, etc) we call it whatever meat it is. Cold cuts sounds like a 50s phrase to me. ---
**Author:** ![DrCube](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a3d4f5/32.png) [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/34 "2019-03-18T14:41:02Z")
I use all those terms interchangeably, but I’m probably most likely to say “deli meat” as in, “the meat you get from the deli”, when I’m making a grocery list for example. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/35 "2019-03-18T14:49:02Z")
I don’y know, both “lunch meat” and “sandwich meat” sound so… logistical. It’s names you see on a checklist, not a menu. Not what I’d call appetizing. “Cold cuts” at least has alliteration going for it ---
**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 18, 2019, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/36 "2019-03-18T14:52:35Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > ETA: I’m in South Africa. Do you know what we typically see as sliced lunch meat? In some modern delis it does get pretty extensive but Americans tend to think of the basics, bologna, salami, ham, roast beef, turkey, and cheeses. These are available freshly sliced or pre-packaged. Would South Africans have a term for this subset of charcuterie? It’s sausages, cured meat (predominantly ham), cooked meat like turkey and roast beef, and cheeses, specifically intended for slicing, and mostly used on sandwiches. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/37 "2019-03-18T15:04:43Z")
“Deli” _or_ “cold cuts”. Interchangeably. ---
**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 18, 2019, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/38 "2019-03-18T17:08:16Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Do you know what we typically see as sliced lunch meat? Yes, we have exactly the same types of thing. > [@](#): > > Would South Africans have a term for this subset of charcuterie? It’s sausages, cured meat (predominantly ham), cooked meat like turkey and roast beef, and cheeses, specifically intended for slicing, and mostly used on sandwiches. They’d be called “cold cuts” (except would not include the cheeses), but I don’t use the term myself. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/39 "2019-03-18T17:12:45Z")
Lunch meat or maybe sometimes cold cuts. And we were always those strange people as likely to heat/fry them as not. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207/40 "2019-03-18T20:40:23Z")
I’ve lived in California all my life. I call it “lunch meat” most of the time, or occasionally “deli meat.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-your-family-call-sliced-lunch-meat/831207.md?page=3)