why do american restaurants call main dishes "entrées"?

[Anonymous]

It's because entree means main dish in American English.

Wait...are you surprised when loan words take on different meanings in different languages? Boy do I have bad news for you...

And just wait till you discover contronyms like sanction or cleave or clip or fast. Opposite meanings in the same language?! *pearls clutched*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We don't speak French. We speak English.

Then stop using words like cafe, restaurant, chic, brunette, cliche, deja vu, bouquet, chef, boutique, bureau, and more...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://frenchly.us/americans-call-main-course-entree/

Google. Do better.

French person here. Very stupid article. Entrée in French has always been used correctly to designate a dish that precedes the main dish, whether it's course number 1 or 3 or whatever. Entrée in English was used correctly at first when there were many courses, but incorrectly later when that number was reduced, because chefs didn't care or understand what it was supposed to designate. They could just as easily have switched to calling appetizers (American) or starters (British) the "entrées".

Well since you think its very stupid, it must be. How very French of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't speak French. We speak English.

And yet you are speaking french when you use those words

Using a word derived from French is not speaking French.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't speak French. We speak English.

Then stop using words like cafe, restaurant, chic, brunette, cliche, deja vu, bouquet, chef, boutique, bureau, and more...

Stop invading England and we can talk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:its been 75 years since you won that war... you have lost all 5 wars you fought after that so get over yourselves.

US won WW2? That's news to me. US entered very late, and the Russians are the ones who really ground down Hitler.

[Anonymous]

Ha! This reminds me of an episode of Below Deck where Chef Ben (British) and Chief Stew Hannah (Australian) clashed over the word entree.

Hannah was using entree for appetizer with the American guests and got them all confused about the size/number of courses since entree means main meal in the US. The guests had eaten a late lunch and she asked if they'd be ok with only having "entrees and dessert at dinner" and they were like yep, sounds good. So Chef Ben prepared an appetizer (entree) and dessert. Once the guests were served the entree and Hannah announced she was brining dessert, the guests were like "wait, where's our entree?" And Hannah explained they'd just eaten their entrees and it created a whole "who's on first?" scenario. "That was your entree" "it was so tiny!" "yes, because it was a entree" "we're still hungry!" "Earlier you said you'd be fine with an entree and dessert only" "that was like appetizer size" and then it clicked that OH entree means main course in the US. Chef Ben had to scramble and fix more food and yelled at Hannah to never use the word entree again with any guests. Only use starters, main, and dessert for course names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't speak French. We speak English.

Then stop using words like cafe, restaurant, chic, brunette, cliche, deja vu, bouquet, chef, boutique, bureau, and more...

Stop invading England and we can talk.

Girl I'm on my couch in Fairfax, I'm not invading anyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don't speak French. We speak English.

And yet you are speaking french when you use those words

Using a word derived from French is not speaking French.

I mean loan words and how they change meanings is an established linguistics subject.

This happens to loan words taken from English. Fer Smoking means "tuxedo" for instance.

What will really blow your mind is words that were loan words from one language to another, altered in meaning, then given back to the original language.

Like "safari" comes from the Arabic word "safar" meaning travel, but now Safari had been loaned back into Arabic to refer to the specific wildlife tour.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Funny thing—if not for the U.S., the French might be calling their ‘plat principal’ a Hauptgericht. You’re welcome.

Lol. Good point. Don't pick on your friends over stupid stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:its been 75 years since you won that war... you have lost all 5 wars you fought after that so get over yourselves.

US won WW2? That's news to me. US entered very late, and the Russians are the ones who really ground down Hitler.

americans love to take credit for things they didnt do. Like ww2. And like stealing languages and f***ing them up. Even english wasn't safe!

[Anonymous]

OP, the fact that you thought this was worth a post tells me that you don’t have enough to worry about. Hope your day is excellent.

[Anonymous]

I would be a lot happier if we could turn this thread into people geeking out over linguistics instead of insulting each other.

Language can be absurdly fun and fascinating. Let's embrace how weird language is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:its been 75 years since you won that war... you have lost all 5 wars you fought after that so get over yourselves.

US won WW2? That's news to me. US entered very late, and the Russians are the ones who really ground down Hitler.

americans love to take credit for things they didnt do. Like ww2. And like stealing languages and f***ing them up. Even english wasn't safe!

It's almost like American English is its own language. Imagine that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would be a lot happier if we could turn this thread into people geeking out over linguistics instead of insulting each other.

Language can be absurdly fun and fascinating. Let's embrace how weird language is.

Gay

Great example of linguistic shift. Interestingly one of the first documented uses of "gay" to mean "homosexual" is known the film Bringing Up Baby.