# Why are they called "French" fries? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 12, 2003, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700 "2003-03-12T00:47:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/21 "2003-03-13T14:51:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arken \* > \*\*Hey! Next time I’m feeling a little randy I think I’ll ask my wife if she would enjoy a little patriot kissing! \*\* What would Little Randy think about that? ---
**Author:** ![Davebear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Davebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Davebear)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/22 "2003-03-13T15:03:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*Am I the only one here who thinks the whole “change name of french fries” is utterly ridiculous? \*\* Far from it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/23 "2003-03-13T15:31:37Z")
“No more French anything for me!” Ah, sounds like Jay Leno yesterday. he said some congress person (?) is trying to change the name now, using ‘freedom’ instead of french, thus: freedom fries freedom kiss etc… ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/24 "2003-03-13T17:34:43Z")
Actually chaps they’re really called chips. Don’t know how you’ve managed to get so overheated and confused. Calm down now, there’s good fellows. Toodle pip. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/25 "2003-03-13T18:18:03Z")
Did anybody understand that last post? It’s like it’s written in some foreign language. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Running\_with\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a183cd/32.png) [@Running\_with\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Running_with_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/26 "2003-03-13T18:35:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfje \* > **the french in french fries does not mean french the nationality, it is short for “frenched”. > Frenched being “food cut in strips”. So you can have “french” anything. It’s frenched when cut into strips.** You didn’t follow the link in the second post, did you? ---
**Author:** ![milquetoast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@milquetoast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milquetoast)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/27 "2003-03-13T20:11:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Arken \* > \*\*Hey! Next time I’m feeling a little randy I think I’ll ask my wife if she would enjoy a little patriot kissing! \*\* As in “kissing the patriot missle”? That’s not randy, that’s downright lascivious! 😉😉 ---
**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/28 "2003-03-13T23:00:48Z")
This whole thread has been an interesting experience. I think I will call everything what they have always been called. I never really think of the French nation when I think of French fries or French dressing. I wonder, however, what foods they have that begin with American or USA. We use lots of countries for our foods, but does anyone use us? ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/29 "2003-03-13T23:34:47Z")
Sure they do PP. Isn’t French Toast in France called American Toast? ---
**Author:** ![PurplePerson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ec9cab/32.png) [@PurplePerson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PurplePerson)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/30 "2003-03-14T00:54:40Z")
Good question. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/31 "2003-03-14T00:55:29Z")
Does that mean that the actor “Stuart French” is now “Stuart Freedom”? ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/32 "2003-03-14T02:51:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PurplePerson \* > I wonder, however, what foods they have that begin with American or USA. I guess if we ever get upset at ourself, American cheese will have to be renamed. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2003, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/33 "2003-03-14T03:49:57Z")
> [@](#): > > _Quoth the hearty soul known as **friedo** in [this](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfrenchfry.html) link:_ > \*\*In Amusingly, they are now often called “American fries” in many countries. " Does anyone else see the irony in this? Methinks them many other countries were _way_ ahead of their time. > [@](#): > > _Also referring to the might of Cecil:_ > By the way, the verb “to french” in cooking has come to mean to cut in long, slender strips, and some people insist that “french fries” come from that term. So, where the hell do we get “French Kissing” from? Gene Simmons’ tongue? Tripler Hey, it’s an honest question! ---
**Author:** ![owlstretchingtime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/958977/32.png) [@owlstretchingtime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/owlstretchingtime)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/34 "2003-03-15T16:38:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by PurplePerson \* > \*\* > I wonder, however, what foods they have that begin with American or USA. We use lots of countries for our foods, but does anyone use us? \*\* Uk examples: American cream soda Kentucky fried chicken There are foods we think of as american - burgers barbeques etc, but they don’t have special names. TTFN! ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/35 "2003-03-15T21:31:34Z")
> [@](#): > > Am I the only one here who thinks the whole “change name of french fries” is utterly ridiculous? Hell no. I have yet to meet a single person who’s reaction to this can’t be summed up as :rolleyes:, :o, or 😕 This is a political equivalent of a toddler having a temper tantrum. ---
**Author:** ![Achernar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e274bd/32.png) [@Achernar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achernar)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/36 "2003-03-15T21:35:03Z")
You forgot :mad:, but I think I’m unique: 😃 I find it hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2003, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/37 "2003-03-15T23:09:49Z")
To wrench this back on topic: is Cecil wrong, or is he not? I’ve seen assertions that he is, but what backs this up? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/38 "2003-03-16T01:18:23Z")
per\*\*. You’ll probbly do better reading the other thread about the origins over at [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133520](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=133520) **Dex** wrote the article, not Cecil. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2003, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700/39 "2003-03-16T01:33:47Z")
**Leaper**. Sorry I mangled your name. **cmkeller**. I think I can best answer your cites by posting a copy of what I posted to the American Dialect Society Mailing LIst last night. So far, no one on the list has responded. But many of the members are university related, and tend to respond better M-F, 9-5. MY post to ADS > [@](#): > > Referring to a dish which involves dipping a piece of bread into an egg/milk mixture, then frying the bread, we come up with---- > > l. 1882 OED, “French Toast,” From F.E. Owens ‘Cook Book’ > 2. 1886, “Spanish Toast”, “HOW TO COOK WELL” (found by Barry). > 3. 1887, “American Toast”, White House Cook Book(by Gilette). > > There is an 1857 cite from Barry for German Toast, but it just ain’t the > same recipe. (So, IS there a “German Toast” cite pre-1900?) Here we have three different names for the same dish, all used in cook books > within a 5-year time frame. So what does that mean? What I would like to > know is: > > l. Does a database search of say, 1880-1910, indicate that one term > predominated? > 2. Would a database search of post-WWI indicate that German Toast > disappeared and French Toast prevailed? > 3. Would a database search of 1900-42 vs. a database search from 1943-1960 > indicate that there was a shift from “German Toast” to “French Toast?” > > For what it’s worth, I called my mother last night. She was born in > Danville, VA. in 1923. She doesn’t remember eating or hearing of “French or > German Toast” until sometime in the 1950’s-60’s when she made it for me as a > youngster. For what it’s worth, she could be classified as a lower > middle-class white Southern American for most of her early years. > > Could “French Toast” be a rather ‘Northern’ dish? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-they-called-french-fries/160700.md?page=1)