What are chips and chrisps called in your country? Help this pathetically small database become one of the most awesome and respected on the web. Email your country's name for crisps/chips to myself Professor Pyeter Mörelovski of the Centre for Poorly Constructed Web Pages Posing as Scholarly Works in Cultural Lingustics, Neesden.
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The definition of a crisp for the purpose of this table is that of the British English definition of "a fried thin slice of potato, usually eaten cold from a packet." [NSOED] |
| Word | Language: Country | Etymology | Notes/sources |
| (Potato) Crisps | English: UK | Latin: crispus | |
| (Potato) Chips | English: US | Latin: cippus (See entry for Chips (UK)) | |
| Chips | Various: Netherlands, Germany, Sweden | US-English | Lit: Thin piece or slice |
| (Pommes) Chips | French: France | US-English | |
| Patatine Fritte | Italian: Italy | ||
| Patatas Fritas (a la Inglesa), Chips | Spanish: Spain | Lit: (English) Fried Potatoes | |
| Batatas Fritas (de pacote) | Portuguese: Portugal | ||
| (炸)土豆片(儿)
(zhá)tŭdòupiàn(r) |
Mandarin: China | Lit: (fried) potato piece | |
ðáôáôÜkéá |
Greek: Greece, Cyprus |
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The definition of a chip for the purpose of this table is that of the British English definition of "a (usually oblong) piece of potato fried or for frying." [NSOED] |
| Word | Language: Country | Etymology | Notes |
| (Potato) Chips | English: UK | Latin: cippus. Old English: forcippian (to cut off), Middle and Modern Low German / Dutch: kippen (to hatch by chipping the shell). | Lit: Thin piece or slice |
| (Pommes) Frites | French: France | Latin: frigere | |
| (French) Fries | English: US | French: frire (to fry) | Early C20. Generic term Fry to mean a fried thing since Mid C17. |
| Pommes (Frites) | German: Germany | French | Lit: Fried Potatoes |
| Pommes Frites | Swedish: Sweden | French | Lit: Fried Potatoes |
| Patatina Fritta | Italian: Italy | Lit: Fried Potatoes | |
| Patatas Fritas | Spanish: Spain | Lit: Fried Potatoes | |
| Batatas Fritas (em palitos) | Portuguese: Portugal | ||
| (Patates) Frites, Patats, Patatjes, Frieten | Dutch: Netherlands | Spanish: patata; French: frites | |
| 炸薯条 / 炸薯條 zháshŭjì |
Mandarin: China | Lit: Fried potato strip | |
|
ôçãáíéôÝò ðáôÜôåò |
Greek: Greece, Cyprus | Lit: fried potatos |
Potato from Spanish Patata, variant of Spanish Batata from the Taino (Arawak people of Antilles and Bahamas.)
Please note, brand names are not included here unless they have become generic terms.