# Why Tuna Fish? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 26, 2007, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975 "2007-08-26T05:56:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/41 "2007-08-27T18:17:40Z")
[QUOTE=CairoCarol] It’s context dependent, isn’t it? If someone asks “so what kind of fish is ‘ahi’?” I think most Americans would answer “it’s yellowfina tuna,” not “it’s yellowfin tuna fish.” [/QUOTE] I think most Americans would answer “I have no idea WTF ‘ahi’ is.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/42 "2007-08-27T18:38:42Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] It’s definitely an East Coast thing. Since pizza, in the US, wasn’t known outside of Boston and the Greater Metro New York area much before 1940, the term quite often used in ads for the product described it as “pizza pie.” Once pizza hit the mainstream US in the 1950’s, it became just “pizza.” At least, that’s my take on it. But, if you grew up on the East Coast, and your parents and friends called it “pizza pie,” why wouldn’t you call it the same? [/QUOTE] I’m in Boston, and I have never heard anyone call it pizza pie. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/43 "2007-08-27T19:43:29Z")
Kind of the opposite situation: hamburger. If you want a ham sandwich, you ask for a “ham sandwich” not a “ham” So shouldn’t it be “hamburger sandwich”? I would caution anyone against calling it that, however. You will only annoy your friends and confuse the cashier at McDonalds. That is personal experience talking. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/44 "2007-08-27T19:45:07Z")
[QUOTE=samclem] It’s definitely an East Coast thing. Since pizza, in the US, wasn’t known outside of Boston and the Greater Metro New York area much before 1940, the term quite often used in ads for the product described it as “pizza pie.” Once pizza hit the mainstream US in the 1950’s, it became just “pizza.” At least, that’s my take on it. But, if you grew up on the East Coast, and your parents and friends called it “pizza pie,” why wouldn’t you call it the same? [/QUOTE] I seem to remember a show on the Food channel about pizza that said calling it pizza pie was confusing to customers because they were expecting something closer to apple pie. So they just dropped the “pie” because they were tired of explaining it. Apparently, there was a bit of a learning curve for pizza in the 1950s. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/45 "2007-08-27T19:48:59Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] I don’t think I’ve ever actually encountered the term “pizza pie” in real life. Perhaps it’s a regional thing? Back East? [/QUOTE] Although I always just called it “pizza” while growing up in Ohio, I remember commercials for the [Pizza Pie game.](http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/17993) These ads both reflected and influenced the use of the repetitive term. ---
**Author:** ![MacGyverInSeattle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/958977/32.png) [@MacGyverInSeattle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacGyverInSeattle)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/46 "2007-08-27T19:56:11Z")
Funny thing is I have always called (the canned stuff) Tuna and so has the wife. But both of our sons who have lived with us full time since they were just a gleam, call it tuna fish. Where did they get it? They don’t even know, they think I am weird for calling it tuna. MacGyver. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2007, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/47 "2007-08-27T23:40:25Z")
Must be regional. In Hawaii, we just say tuna. This fact made me lose a contest once, because I answered simply “tuna sandwich”. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/48 "2007-08-28T04:44:28Z")
[QUOTE=muldoonthief] Sorry to hijack, but if they had pork in Thailand, how could they not have ham? It’s just another cut of meat from the same magical animal. Or did you mean they didn’t have cured hams, and just treated the ham as another cut of pork? [/QUOTE] They didin’t use to have ham slices. They do now, but it’s considered a Western thing, like sandwiches and even bread itself. Otherwise, pork is mostly just put into these odd little Thai sausages or fried up in rice dishes and the like. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/49 "2007-08-28T05:18:50Z")
Q: Why do Americans call it ‘tuna fish’ instead of just ‘tuna’? My answer: 'Cause we’re stupid. Further evidence: Taco Bell commercials invariably refer to ‘carne asada steak’ in the pitch. I know we’re not all native Spanish speakers–not yet, anyway–but it really doesn’t take that much wit and experience to figure out that ‘carne asada’ by itself means ‘steak.’ Shouldn’t be so complicated. But apparently it is. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/50 "2007-08-28T08:03:07Z")
[QUOTE=Not A Tame Lion] Q: Why do Americans call it ‘tuna fish’ instead of just ‘tuna’? My answer: 'Cause we’re stupid. [/QUOTE] By your definition, then Thais are especially stupid, since they use “fish”, “color”, etc, with everything. They always name the overall category with the specific type in general conversation. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/51 "2007-08-28T11:00:32Z")
[QUOTE=Not A Tame Lion] Q: Why do Americans call it ‘tuna fish’ instead of just ‘tuna’? My answer: 'Cause we’re stupid. [/QUOTE] There, there, it’s okay. But don’t forget that to buy your carne asada steak, you need to stop at the ATM machine first and enter your PIN number to get some cash money to buy your dinner food with. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/52 "2007-08-28T18:13:46Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] By your definition, then Thais are especially stupid, since they use “fish”, “color”, etc, with everything. They always name the overall category with the specific type in general conversation. [/QUOTE] Not so. I don’t make that judgment about Thais, because I don’t have any knowledge about the syntactical and linguistic necessities of their language. For all I know, their language requires that structure to convey the concept in question. But I know that such redundancies are not necessary in English. I stand by my assessment. [QUOTE=WhyNot] There, there, it’s okay. But don’t forget that to buy your carne asada steak, you need to stop at the ATM machine first and enter your PIN number to get some cash money to buy your dinner food with. [/QUOTE] 😃 That’s good stuff. Pats on the back for coming up with all those examples. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/53 "2007-08-29T02:55:34Z")
Nitpick: Of course, those are straight redundancies. The N in PIN means “number.” The M in ATM means “machine.” ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/54 "2007-08-29T06:51:34Z")
Same goes for people who say “hamburger meat”. As opposed to what - hamburger yogurt? Hamburger chocolate? Hamburger potatoes? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975/55 "2007-08-29T13:26:57Z")
[QUOTE=DMark] Same goes for people who say “hamburger meat”. As opposed to what - hamburger yogurt? Hamburger chocolate? Hamburger potatoes? [/QUOTE] If you bought simply “hamburger” people might think you were buying the entire burger, rather than the raw ingredients you use to prepare the meat part of the hamburger with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-tuna-fish/416975.md?page=2)