Regional sayings

[WillyNilly]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

Dear Jmarvellous.  We hope you'd have little problem in Park Slope

Here, nachos aren't just sad, little naked tortilla chips. A decent dish of nachos will include chips and salsa.  Perhaps refritos will be included.  A good dish of nachos will include some jalapeños.  A generous amount of good, grated cheese will be added and the whole thing dipped under the broiler for a minute or two.

This sort of misunderstanding isn't limited to nachos. A local restaurant named 'Mr.  Falafel' claims to have had a hard time at the beginning because locals didn't know what falafel was.  Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

In NYC?  This must have been several decades ago, as falafel has been standard issue street cart food in NY for at least 20 years, and its as often as not, not served on a pita.

[Thipu1]

This WAS about 30 years ago.  The story surfaced in a local newspaper article about long-term Slope businesses. 

Even back then, it would have been a bit odd.  I remember enjoying falafel with baba ganouj at Amy's in the mid-1970s. 

[Danika]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

Dear Jmarvellous.  We hope you'd have little problem in Park Slope

Here, nachos aren't just sad, little naked tortilla chips. A decent dish of nachos will include chips and salsa.  Perhaps refritos will be included.  A good dish of nachos will include some jalapeños.  A generous amount of good, grated cheese will be added and the whole thing dipped under the broiler for a minute or two.

This sort of misunderstanding isn't limited to nachos. A local restaurant named 'Mr.  Falafel' claims to have had a hard time at the beginning because locals didn't know what falafel was.  Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

In NYC?  This must have been several decades ago, as falafel has been standard issue street cart food in NY for at least 20 years, and its as often as not, not served on a pita.

Veering off topic, but in the same vein, my mom moved to Boulder, Colorado in the late 1960s. No one there seemed to know what yogurt was. She would explain it and people would say "ewww. Sour milk." So she had to find cultures and make her own.

[hobish]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

That is interesting. I am not too far away in South Jersey and to me nachos have stuff on them - cheese at the very least, but probably ground beef, tomatos, jalapenos, maybe some black olives, and that kind of thing. Plain they are just tortilla chips.

[Mental Magpie]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

That is interesting. I am not too far away in South Jersey and to me nachos have stuff on them - cheese at the very least, but probably ground beef, tomatos, jalapenos, maybe some black olives, and that kind of thing. Plain they are just tortilla chips.

If it makes any difference, I am from northwestern Pennsylvania, where we have our own complete way of talking.  Seriously; there are about 6 regional accents in the US and northwestern Pennsylvania has its very own.  Pool and pull are pronounced exactly the same to me.  So are dull and doll and dawn and don.

[Shopaholic]

Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

But, pita is a flat bread and a felafel is a chickpea patty.  They're 2 ingredients in a felafel kebab...

In Israel:
Falafel is both the ball/patty and the pita + balls + salads + hummus + tehini it is served as.
Kebab is a meat patty. It can be served on a plate, with salads, hummus and more in a pita or in a "lafa" which is a large, flat pita-like bread with no pocket.

[Thipu1]

Here, kabobs are served on a skewer.  'Kufta' kabob is ground meat.  The meat is usually lamb or a mix of lamb and beef.  Kabos can also be made with chunks of beef, lamb or chicken. A kabob is normally served with pita and salad or rice. 

Mr. Falafel serves an Egyptian hamburger of seasoned, ground lamb that's just wonderful. 

Hmmm.  We may go there for lunch. 

[hobish]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

That is interesting. I am not too far away in South Jersey and to me nachos have stuff on them - cheese at the very least, but probably ground beef, tomatos, jalapenos, maybe some black olives, and that kind of thing. Plain they are just tortilla chips.

If it makes any difference, I am from northwestern Pennsylvania, where we have our own complete way of talking.  Seriously; there are about 6 regional accents in the US and northwestern Pennsylvania has its very own.  Pool and pull are pronounced exactly the same to me.  So are dull and doll and dawn and don.

Oh, yeah ... completely different. I know not all of PA is Philly bit for some reason i had it in my head you were near there You are in Steelers country. Nice.

[Mental Magpie]

Well, I'm glad he's not a lone oddball in his nacho=tortilla chip thing.

But it does make my little mostly Texan heart sad. I'm going to have a hard time if I ever move north!

That is interesting. I am not too far away in South Jersey and to me nachos have stuff on them - cheese at the very least, but probably ground beef, tomatos, jalapenos, maybe some black olives, and that kind of thing. Plain they are just tortilla chips.

If it makes any difference, I am from northwestern Pennsylvania, where we have our own complete way of talking.  Seriously; there are about 6 regional accents in the US and northwestern Pennsylvania has its very own.  Pool and pull are pronounced exactly the same to me.  So are dull and doll and dawn and don.

Oh, yeah ... completely different. I know not all of PA is Philly bit for some reason i had it in my head you were near there You are in Steelers country. Nice.

Haha, no worries, it happens.  I most certainly am, and proud of it.  There is a video of my 5th Christmas in which I get a Steelers sweatshirt and am over the moon about it.  I'm a long time fan 

ETA:  I grew up in northwestern PA, but I live in Colorado now.

[baglady]

In my world, a kebab is meat and veggies on a skewer. Falafel is the chick-pea stuff usually served in a pita. I suppose if I were ordering it from a street cart, I'd ask for "a falafel" if I meant some of that stuff in a pita, same as if I ordered a hot dog, I'd expect a wiener in a bun.

In my house growing up, we used "hot dog" to refer to both the wiener itself and the wiener in a bun. ("Go to the supermarket and pick up a package of hot dogs.") Not so with hamburgers, though. A ground beef patty on a bun was "a hamburger," but the ground beef itself was "hamburg."

Nachos for me definitely means tortilla chips covered with stuff -- melted cheese at the very least. But there's a bar near Bagman that serves its own version of nachos: homemade potato chips covered with cheese, meat, refried beans, jalapenos, sour cream ... darn, now I'm hungry.

[katycoo]

Local people thought that 'falafel' and 'pita' were the same thing.

But, pita is a flat bread and a felafel is a chickpea patty.  They're 2 ingredients in a felafel kebab...

In Israel:
Falafel is both the ball/patty and the pita + balls + salads + hummus + tehini it is served as.
Kebab is a meat patty. It can be served on a plate, with salads, hummus and more in a pita or in a "lafa" which is a large, flat pita-like bread with no pocket.

OK.  Here the kebab is the whole wrapped parcel - meat/felafel, salad, sauces in pita.

Shishkebab is on a skewer.  Kofta is ground meat on a skewer as opposed to chunks of meat.  Kofta can also be elongated meatballs but that's far less common.  Itr is always ground meat.  The meat in a kebab is usually shaved.

[camlan]

Veering off topic, but in the same vein, my mom moved to Boulder, Colorado in the late 1960s. No one there seemed to know what yogurt was. She would explain it and people would say "ewww. Sour milk." So she had to find cultures and make her own.

In the mid-1970s, my family took a long camping trip across the US. Bagels were unheard of in several places we stopped. No bagel shops, not even frozen bagels in the supermarkets.

[Thipu1]

When you live in a big city, all sorts of ethnic foods are likely to be available and you forget that the same may not be true elsewhere.

A few years ago we were amused by a TV ad for a brand of frozen pirogi.  The ad carefully explained that pirogi are 'All your favorite foods-- pasta, cheese and potato rolled into one'. 

Also, back in the 1970s a local chain that specialized in bagel sandwiches was trying to expand.  Their TV ad explained what a bagel is.

  I miss that place.  It made the world's greatest chicken salad sandwich. 

[Thipu1]

Getting away from food for a bit.

Most people these days seem to use laptops, I-pads and the like.  Lately, I've been hearing a desk top computer called a 'Grandpa Box'. 

Has anyone else encountered this?

[hobish]

Getting away from food for a bit.

Most people these days seem to use laptops, I-pads and the like.  Lately, I've been hearing a desk top computer called a 'Grandpa Box'. 

Has anyone else encountered this?

Hahah  That is funny stuff. I had to Google. I never heard that before and couldn't even find it on Urban Dictionary; but there was a Dilbert cartoon about it in 2011.
http://www.avaya.com/blogs/archives/2011/08/dilbert-and-the-grandpa-box.html