# White and Nerdy: "I order all my sandwiches with mayonnaise" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 29, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607 "2006-09-29T15:16:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/1 "2006-09-29T15:16:41Z")
Okay, I get most of the references in Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy” video, but not this one. Is eating mayonnaise a nerd stereotype, or does it have some other significance? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/2 "2006-09-29T15:19:21Z")
It’s not nerd-specific, but it’s very, very white. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/3 "2006-09-29T15:26:34Z")
It’s also mentioned in two other songs on the same album, so I’m guessing it’s a personal association for WAY as well. I have to confess that my mom used to make avocado dip by just mashing the avocados and adding mayonnaise. (No salt - that would make her Retain Water.) ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/4 "2006-09-29T15:35:50Z")
I’m a little surprised he would eat mayo, since he went vegetarian back in the early 90s. Mayo, by the way, is nasty. It’s the Devil’s spooge. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/5 "2006-09-29T16:28:37Z")
There are vegan mayos. But mayonnaise has been a symbol of whiteness and WASPiness for decades. The National Lampoon used it to convey white culture thirty years ago, and it wasn’t at all new then. It’s especially so by contrast to Jewish deli tradition, in which mayonnaise is never spread on bread, while mustard is the preferred condiment. The use of mayonnaise is as goyish as you can get. ---
**Author:** ![Mayo\_Speaks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c57346/32.png) [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/6 "2006-09-29T16:39:31Z")
[QUOTE=brianjedi] \ Mayo, by the way, is nasty. It’s the Devil’s spooge. [/QUOTE] What have I ever done to you? And I’m a “he”, not an “it”! :indignant: ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/7 "2006-09-29T16:44:19Z")
As others have mentioned, Mayo and Wonder bread have been shorthand for WASPs for decades. It is very common to associate White Anglo-Saxons with Mayo for Italians and Jews in the NY & NJ area at very least. So I would definately say that “I order all my sandwhiches with mayonnaise” is shorthand for VERY WHITE. Jim ---
**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:** [September 29, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/8 "2006-09-29T16:46:38Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] The use of mayonnaise is as goyish as you can get. [/QUOTE] You never ate a roast beef sandwich at Rubins in Brookline, did you? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/9 "2006-09-29T16:50:49Z")
I’ll bet plenty of black folks eat their sandwiches on Wonder bread with mayo. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/10 "2006-09-29T16:53:44Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] There are vegan mayos. [/QUOTE] And it is disgusting. Mayonaise is also a white food literally. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/11 "2006-09-29T17:03:37Z")
I’ve been white for 25 years, and I only recently heard this stereotype (and I don’t like mayo). How old is this, and how prevelant is it? I learned it from watching Undercover Brother 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/12 "2006-09-29T17:05:09Z")
OK, I see that it’s been around for decades. I guess it’s just one of those things that has just flown by my radar. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Ashtar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@Lord\_Ashtar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Ashtar)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/13 "2006-09-29T17:08:15Z")
[Chris Rock] Ain’t only black people on welfare, shit. White people on welfare too. Broke ass, living in a trailer home, fucking their sister, eating mayonaise sandwiches, listening to John Cougar Mellencamp records. [/Chris Rock] ---
**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:** [September 29, 2006, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/14 "2006-09-29T17:25:16Z")
I’m familiar with the streotype, too. Heck, Mad used tio use it all the time to imply WASPishness. I hate mayo, by the way. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2006, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/15 "2006-09-29T17:30:59Z")
I’m familiar with the streotype, too. Heck, Mad used tio use it all the time to imply WASPishness. I hate mayo, by the way. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/16 "2006-09-29T17:32:01Z")
Sorry about the repost. I didn’t mean to say it twice. But I _really_ do hate Mayo. ---
**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:** [September 29, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/17 "2006-09-29T17:43:36Z")
It was pointed up in **Annie Hall** when Annie goes into a deli and orders something (roast beef or corned beef) on white bread with mayo. Woody Allen gives her a look implying she is really a goy. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/18 "2006-09-29T18:01:16Z")
[ridiculous generaliazation] Weird, when I worked at the deli, it was only the occasional black person who wanted (to me) gross amounts of mayo on the sandwich. Like, couldn’t-put-the-top-slice-of-bread-on-without-it-sliding-around amounts. If I were to associate mayo with a sterotype, it’d be black people. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/19 "2006-09-29T18:14:48Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] [ridiculous generaliazation] Weird, when I worked at the deli, it was only the occasional black person who wanted (to me) gross amounts of mayo on the sandwich. Like, couldn’t-put-the-top-slice-of-bread-on-without-it-sliding-around amounts. If I were to associate mayo with a sterotype, it’d be black people. [/QUOTE] As I mentioned, the Mayo thing does not really mean that all WASPs eat mayo on every sandwich; it is just a long standing and dated joke about how WASPs like very bland food. By the same standards, a Jewish person would be expected to prefer a good rye or Bagel (w/ Lox) and an Italian would want Crusty Italian bread, preferable with a meatball. None of this is true, just think of Mayo and white bread as a cipher for WASP. As these are also very white colored food products also. Another weak generalization is the WASPs and Irish like Yellow mustard but Jews & Italians like Brown Mustard. Would this hold up to any scientific testing? Of course not, but French’s Yellow vs. Gulden’s Spicy Brown has been a standard WASP vs. ethnic whites thing for a long time. Jim ---
**Author:** ![davenportavenger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@davenportavenger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davenportavenger)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607/20 "2006-09-29T18:21:18Z")
[QUOTE=badbadrubberpiggy] I learned it from watching Undercover Brother [/QUOTE] I came in here just to mention that scene in Undercover Brother where he pretends to be white, but is given a special watch that shoots hot sauce into the mayonnaise. I like mayonnaise, but I like brown mustard more (yellow is nasty). I like to mix them together for a good sandwich topping. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-and-nerdy-i-order-all-my-sandwiches-with-mayonnaise/374607.md?page=2)