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Presentations: Day 2

Patricia's presentation reminded me of some of my memories from growing up in Bloomfield. When my family first arrived, the town was almost entirely second or third-generation Italians (affectionately referred to as "guidos"). And I'll never forget how I was consistently told that I pronounced every Italian food item incorrectly. It turns out, years later, that much of their knowledge of their "mother tongue" was suspect...probably because they didn't actually speak Italian. Maybe they just liked saying things differently, like it created some sort of solidarity in their culture. Or maybe it was a natural change to the dialect. Anyway, her presentation was excellent. I was amazed at how many lexical items that are in full bloom here in the US are nowhere to be found in much of Italy. Her explanation of the plurality of the pastas, with the one exception of lasagna, was particularly interesting, as was the information about the true/original definitions of pepperoni and paninis.

Hernan did a wonderful job of presenting. His project really dialed in on the phenomenon of one word being used to describe many possible recipes. I liked how he talked about every country's version of curry, and did a remarkable job tracing the origins and how it moved from one place to another. I'm still surprised at the many variations, and plan on trying all of them. It also reminded me how I'm often told that with certain commercial products, the recipe will change from country to country. Many people have remarked that the Guinness beer in Ireland and Jamaica are markedly different from that sold within the US.

Presentations: Day 1

Corinne's presentation was especially interesting, and something I've noticed (as have many others) for quite some time. I think that's why it has engendered much discussion in everyone's blog entries. Her analysis of chocolate being sold to women as an intimate, almost erotic "guilty pleasure" was on the money. Even today, I remember some commercial, possibly for a Dove bar (interesting to note the elegant, even "feminine" name of the product as opposed to many other candy bars), that showed a woman taking the phone off the hook, lighting candles, and running a bubble bath before indulging in said product. There is no question that food advertisements geared towards men emphasize heartiness and satiety. Eating "light" marks a man as "light in the loafers" or a "metrosexual."
Copious amounts of food are often encouraged, as if their consumption indicates a figurative "F you!" to the health experts and their limitations and recommendations.

Interestingly, Kay remarked about alcohol on her blog and it reminded me of something particularly irksome. For some reason, enormous beer consumption is considered manly while mixed drinks, especially of the colorful variety, are often deemed "foo-foo." Yet I never cease in the delight of letting guys know that beer is one of the weakest alcoholic beverages a person can consume. A Sex on the Beach or Apple Martini is exponentially more potent than a Coors Lite. Yet most men will consistently act like their heroic consumption of beer is somehow a mark of masculinity, all while knocking a man or woman who opts instead for a cocktail. This is somewhat similar to Patricia's presentation (more to come), where people are just ill-informed.

Robyn's presentation was also thought-provoking. I found it interesting how many English idioms/metaphors worm their way into other languages. This isn't surprising when considering the ubiquity of the English language. I also found it fascinating how many modern Hebrew expressions are understandable to us from our cultural perspective, while others need further explanation to be discernible. I'd love to see if any similar idioms developed in parallel, without any cross-cultural influence.

List of Language Practices Associated with Food (take two) :)

So...now that I better understand the topic and assignment:

-Saying "cheers"

Before taking a sip of your drink, this is said, often as glasses are clinking together. Other common ones include Slainte in Irish Gaelic, Salud (in Spanish countries and Italy), Kampai (in Japan), and L'Chaim (Jewish cultures).

-ordering food at a restaurant

-having the specials read at a restaurant

-calling people to the table

-saying a prayer

Usually done before the first bite.

-Bon Appetit!

-Dig in!

-Refrains in the name of "table etiquette"

elbows off the table, don't feed the dog, eat your vegetables, finish your food, don't play with your food, put that away

Name Wars...

So many terms, especially those relating to food, seem to be geographically dependent. One community might say "hoagie," while another would say "grinder" (I'd probably say "disgusting," but that's beside the point). Trying to pinpoint an isogloss is no easy feat, but many researchers are attempting to do just that. Other times, words may be used interchangeably, even if they technically are two distinct items. An example of this is "club soda" and "seltzer." Although often used as pure synonyms, club soda actually contains sodium, while seltzer is salt-free. But for purposes of this discussion, they would be considered synonyms based solely on how they are used by native speakers.

"Dinner" vs. "supper" is a common battle in these wars. While both refer to the evening meal, it seems that dinner is unquestionably favored in nearly all of NY and NJ. New England, certain parts of the Midwest, and much of the South, however, seems to prefer supper. Often, a "dinner" to them is something fancy...an excursion to a popular restaurant, for example.

"Drinking fountain" vs. "water fountain" and "grocery store" vs. "supermarket" are two other examples. Also, I've heard that "sprinkles" (in Northern NJ) are often referred to as "jimmies" in southern parts of NJ. This would at least parallel my experience since I'd never even heard the term "jimmies" until hearing it in a linguistics course a year ago.

Many times, the words seem to be generational in addition to geographical. And finding clear cut geographical boundaries does not always seem so easy.

Invented Food Names

Veggie Burger
A clear case of compounding. It doesn't take long to recover the inference that this is a "burger-shaped patty" which uses vegetable-based ingredients instead of red meat.

Coke
Interestingly, "coke" is a clipped form of the actual/original product name: Coca-Cola. This, itself, is a compound describing the origin of certain ingredients. Specifically, coca leaves and cola nuts.

Chips Ahoy
This is an example of metonymy. The chocolate chips found within the cookie have come to represent the actual cookie itself. The addition of "ahoy" lends an air of having found something after much searching.

Jiffy Pop
An example of a clipped form for "popcorn," preceded with an adjective that lets you know it will be ready quickly (in a jiffy).

Mountain Dew
A beverage with the majestic flavor of the natural drippings from the foliage found on the peak of a mountain. Its title, a simple combination of two separate words, is obviously supposed to conjure up images of freshness and nature. An image which obviously belies its ingredients.

Baby Ruth
This is an instance of using the name of a person as the title of a product. Though debate exists over whether this was named after President Grover Cleveland's daughter or baseball great Babe Ruth, it's clear that the name has little to do with the components of the candy or its taste.

Limeade
Since this beverage is similar to "lemonade," people have simply taken the suffix "-ade" and added it to the differing base ingredient (lime rather than lemon). Incidentally, lemonade can be considered a borrowed-term from the French limonade.

Poland Spring
Rather self-explanatory. Although there is some debate about whether or not this water acutally comes from Poland, Maine, let alone a "spring," the effect is clear. We associate freshness with nature. The untouched landscapes of Maine must have water that is free from impurities. The name of the product simply keys into this belief.

Now and Later
A phrase from the advertising became the title. The concept was that these individually wrapped candies could be enjoyed both "now," and "later." Eat some now, save some later. Therefore, an aspect of how you eat the product eventually became its name.

Life Savers
This can almost be considered a pun. The candy is shaped like a "life-saving" flotation device utilized by a lifeguard. However, it can also itself be considered life-saving in an appropriate moment as confectionery and for fresh breath.

Analysis of food metaphors

Arm Candy

The source domain is an object, specifically food. The target domain is obviously people. Since this metaphor is used to describe both male and female persons, sex does not need to be identified. What does matter, however, is the rather subjective distinction of said person being "attractive." This is achieved through identifying them as a particular kind of food, generally beloved and coveted by most people. Thus: people are food + everybody wants candy + people are jealous and pay attention to those who have candy + the spatial element of "having" your partner on your arm = arm candy. It is easy to glean that this metaphor is describing having an attractive person on your arm for the purposes of getting attention and creating jealousy.

Eye Candy

"Eye candy," though seemingly similar to the aforementioned "arm candy," is actually justified through a different formula, thereby giving it a slightly different meaning. The source and target domains, however, remain the same. So: people are food + people love tasting candy + people love looking at attractive human beings = eye candy. Therefore, we can see that there is a shift in sensory systems from "taste" to "vision," but the meaning is still easily recovered.

Vanilla

This metaphor involves a source domain of flavor and a target domain that is relatively undefined, but can consist of activities, other objects, or events. Specifically, it involves rating these. With "vanilla," the implication is that the activity/object is plain, boring, or regular, like the most basic flavor of ice cream ("vanilla"). This yields: activities are flavors + vanilla is the most basic flavor + basic is unexciting = the activity is unexciting/"vanilla."