# Your weird names for food items **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 22, 2025, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379 "2025-04-22T21:16:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/21 "2025-04-23T12:03:26Z")
When I was growing up, my mom would make some ground beef concoction in cream gravy and serve it over toast and call it “SOS”. I was like 40 years old before I realized “SOS” stood for “shit on a shingle”. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/22 "2025-04-23T12:25:54Z")
When we were kids, my mom would sometimes serve leftover spaghetti sauce over rice. We called it “slop” because we were all classy like that. > [@Shoeless](#): > > someone would always bring a jello salad, which came to be known as “the green shit”. My MIL made a “salad” of pistachio pudding mix, cool whip, mini marshmallows, and pineapple bits that we always called “green stuff” because one did not use dirty words in MIL’s house. I could never bring myself to call it salad, even if it is green. ---
**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:** [April 23, 2025, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/23 "2025-04-23T12:45:45Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I was like 40 years old before I realized “SOS” stood for “shit on a shingle”. Properly, SOS is “Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast”, although I could see someone using ground beef for it. Dave Barry, in one of his books, says it was staple of his mother’s and that, the name “Shit on a Shingle” notwithstanding, he loved it. Here’s a Navy recpe for 100 portions: > **[Reddit - The heart of the internet](https://www.reddit.com/r/Butchery/comments/1jlfsga/creamed_chipped_beef_navy_recipe_card/?rdt=48121)** ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/24 "2025-04-23T13:01:49Z")
My wife’s family cook leftover turkey in a cream sauce, and call it “turkey glop”. “Tuna glop” is a similar dish made with tuna. I have other nicknames for food, but they’re all Navy standards, not things we’ve named at home. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/25 "2025-04-23T14:37:46Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Properly, SOS is “Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast”, although I could see someone using ground beef for it. Dave Barry, in one of his books, says it was staple of his mother’s and that, the name “Shit on a Shingle” notwithstanding, he loved it. Max Miller covered this on his YouTube show _Tasting History._ Brilliant and entertaining program. New 20-ish minute episode every Tuesday. Highly suggest subscribing. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ry5Du60WPGU/maxresdefault.jpg "What did WWII Soldiers Eat?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5Du60WPGU) ---
**Author:** ![Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sticks_and_scones/32/16951_2.png) [@Sticks\_and\_Scones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sticks_and_Scones)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/26 "2025-04-23T14:39:27Z")
I have no idea why, but in my head Mozzarella cheese is always Schmootzyrella. 🤷‍♀️ ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/27 "2025-04-23T14:53:15Z")
When my son was first learning how to talk I said that raisins were named “dried grapes”. So, he would ask for dried grapes - until I gave him the more common name. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/28 "2025-04-23T15:16:57Z")
My partner makes [mimosa salad](https://savaskitchen.com/mimosa-salad-layered-tuna-and-egg-salad/) every New Year’s Eve. This is a round, compact, layered salad, with grated hard-boiled egg yolks as the top layer. I always refer to it as “Pac-Man salad”, since that’s exactly what it looks like once the first wedge of it has been cut out. (To complete the metaphor, I often add a black olive on top as an eye.) ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/29 "2025-04-23T15:20:32Z")
A favorite meal Mrs. J. makes for me is known as “bowl o’ meat”. There are many other names for a concoction consisting primarily of ground hamburger and either rice or mac and cheese, supplemented with onions, peppers and spices, but in these parts it’s “would you like a bowl o’ meat for supper?”. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/30 "2025-04-23T16:35:50Z")
On a standard Intourist excursion in Russia, your dinner is likely to be a piece of beef in sour cream sauce, baked in a little earthenware pot. My fellow students and I always called this dish “Hunk-o-Meat.” ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/31 "2025-04-23T16:46:06Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > When I was very small broccoli was known as “trees”. Are you one of my kids?!? They ate a lot of broccoli, but only because they called them trees, and as they bit part of the tree off, I would make pitiful “Ohhhh, nooo…” voices (as the animals living in the tree, who were facing imminent death). After the Lion King came out, they decided they looked like “Rafiki Trees”… ---
**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:** [April 23, 2025, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/32 "2025-04-23T17:00:09Z")
We make a lot of “fake” meals at our house. On of our stales is “Fake Indian Food”, which Pepper Mill makes using chickpeas and Indian sauces and spices. I have made what I call “Fake Chicken Kiev” (“Chicken Kyiv”?) , because it takes a lot less time and effort than the real thing. ---
**Author:** ![penultima\_thule](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penultima_thule/32/3833_2.png) [@penultima\_thule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/penultima_thule)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/33 "2025-04-23T17:16:37Z")
Over this side of the puddle the local bakery staple of the humble Vanilla Slice is ubiquitously referred to as a “Snot Block”. [![](https://i.ibb.co/Pz4g7prk/Vanilla-Slice.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/Pz4g7prk/Vanilla-Slice.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/34 "2025-04-23T17:16:38Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Is there a kid’s camp in the country that doesn’t call the fruit punch/Kool Aid/ Hi-C they serve “bug juice”? It’s also brand of sugar water aimed at children, it comes in a little baseball shaped container found in the dirty bottom shelf of any gas station. But it was today that I learned it’s an ancient ubiquitous camp term for any juice which makes perfect sense. Sugar water and the coordination of a horde of children is a recipe for insects. The order in my universe has been improved today. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/35 "2025-04-23T17:24:55Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Is there a kid’s camp in the country that doesn’t call the fruit punch/Kool Aid/ Hi-C they serve “bug juice”? In the Scouts, we progressed from Bug Juice to serving slushies at the “Trading Post”. Each color combination had its own name… my favorite was bright green with ribbons of red swirled through it: “Yoda In A Blender” ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/36 "2025-04-23T17:36:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Is there a kid’s camp in the country that doesn’t call the fruit punch/Kool Aid/ Hi-C they serve “bug juice”? That’s what we always called it when I was in the Navy. And it was never referred to by flavour – it was always “red” or “purple” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/37 "2025-04-23T18:33:02Z")
An addition, that should buff my geek cred. I am/was a big fan of Dungeons and Dragons 3/3.5 Edition. It was what most of us played as we were all becoming productive adults in our first “real” apartments, jobs, etc. One of things that we always snickered about was one item in the equipment list: Item: Meat, chunk of Cost: 3sp Weight: 1/2lb. It’s just a silly item. So forever after, when those of us get together and buy food (like for the upcoming weekend when one of said friends is visiting from out of state after having moved away), we discuss what to buy to cook, and it’s referred to by it’s full name: “Meat comma, chunk of” with the comma being stated. Often with secondary features such as “colon, frozen” if we’re getting something to defrost and cook such as a turkey breast. “Meat comma, chunk of colon, frozen”. Which makes us all laugh at the in-joke, but gets weird looks. And less funny to you all, without the shared history, but, it’s absolutely a weird name for a food item. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/38 "2025-04-23T19:03:06Z")
There used to be a restaurant in our town that served a very generous portion of escargot. We called that appetizer “Bucket o’ Snails”. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/39 "2025-04-23T19:20:06Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Properly, SOS is “Creamed Chipped Beef on Toast”, although I could see someone using ground beef for it. We’d have “Chipped beef on toast” occasionally but it was always called “chipped beef on toast” (and the beef was this sliced lunchmeat-like stuff that came rolled up in a jar), but the ground beef version was always “SOS”. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2025, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379/40 "2025-04-23T19:51:44Z")
> [@ParallelLines](#): > > Item: Meat, chunk of Cost: 3sp Weight: 1/2lb. My late husband who was ex-military would apply this format to lots of things besides food, like for instance a cat. “Item: cat comma black and white. One each. Government issue. All previous editions obsolete.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-weird-names-for-food-items/1017379.md?page=3)