undefined | Better HN

0 pointsgerdesj8y ago0 comments

We taught the French how to cook beef (OK sort of).

Originally, the French boiled their beef but during a siege of Paris by British troops, they noticed that our troops cooked theirs over the fire/griddle. The rest is history.

The word beef is derived from boeuf. Biftek is derived from beef steak. So you have a borrow word that has really done the rounds!

0 comments

2 comments · 1 top-level

alblue8y ago· 1 in thread

In most languages, the name of the meat is the same (or similar to) the animal it comes from.

In English, the name of the meat was derived from the French aristocrats who were running the country hundreds of years ago, and while peasants referred to animals by name, the aristocrats referred to the food by the name they knew it as - which is why in English we have two names for these things, but other languages generally only have one.

balabaster8y ago

It's funny, since I turned to farming, I find myself referring to the meat I eat as the name of the animal rather than those you see on the packaging in the grocery store. It started off as humour and kind of stuck. Cowburger, pig chops... oddly I still call chicken and turkey the same thing :P

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse