Potatoes

Guest   Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:13 pm GMT
Guest   Mon Jun 26, 2006 4:15 pm GMT
Potatoes are from Ireland, right? If Ireland has always had potatoes, why aren't potatoes as famous in the other Celtic countries? (Wales, Scotland and Brittany)
Damian in Edinburgh   Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:37 pm GMT
What do you mean by "famous"? You can't use that adjective to describe things as mundane as spuds, I don't think. Potates don't exactly "come from Ireland" - they're universal.

Potatoes featured in Irish history only because they were practically the staple diet in a country riven by extreme poverty. Then in the 19th century came a disastrous potato blight which all but devastated the entire crop and the poor people died en masse from starvation and disease in the most terrible conditions. One of the results of all that was mass emigration to America, where they settled in huge numbers in many areas of the North East of the uSA in particular around Boston.

Potatoes are just as prominent in the "other Celtic countries" of the UK, just as they are everywhere else in the world. Where do you think we get our chips/fries from? They come in all varieties: King Edwards, Maris Piper, Cara, Desiree etc etc and right now in season the mega tasty Jersey Royals (the Channel Island Jersey that is, not the US one!)

I believe that in the USA the State of Idaho holds the spud producing medal! :-)
Kirk   Mon Jun 26, 2006 11:56 pm GMT
<<Potatoes are from Ireland, right?>>

Potatoes are actually native to the Andes. They were brought to Europe in the 15th-16th century upon European contact with South America.
Jim   Tue Jun 27, 2006 6:15 am GMT
Celine Dion is more mundane than a spud but there's nothing wrong with saying "Celine Dion is famous."
j   Tue Jun 27, 2006 7:06 am GMT
"State of Idaho holds the SPUD producing medal!"
"Celine Dion is more mundane than a SPUD "

I never heard people say this word, only read but rarely too. Is it common?
Uriel   Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:35 am GMT
Spud is just a nickname for potatoes. We don't use it much in NM because here we're stuck on calling them "papas".
Damian in Alba   Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:13 am GMT
But surely, Jim - Celine Dion, however mundane, if she truly is, can still be famous. She is a person who has actually done something. A grotty old inanimate King Edward spudato can only be "famous" merely because it can be boiled, roasted, chipped or baked...or stuck back into the soil again to germinate.
Jim   Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:56 am GMT
Yes, she has done something ... I wish she hadn't but she has. Absolutely ... she is famous ... that's my point: she's famous inspite of her being so damn mundane. Thus it's not mundaneness that stops a spud from being famous.
Gabriel   Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:21 pm GMT
Since we're in the topic, I've heard the expression "Potato, potato" [p@."te.4O. p@."tA.4O] used here in the US to mean "same difference". However, I don't think any native speaker of English uses the pronunciation with broad [A]. Are people aware of this when they use the expression and it's all jocular? Or is there a place where people actually use [A] in "potato"?
Gabriel   Thu Jul 20, 2006 3:39 pm GMT
Sorry, I meant [p@."te.4o] and [p@."tA.4o].
Adam   Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:15 pm GMT
"Potatoes are from Ireland, right?"

Nope. They are from the Americans. The Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them to the rest of the world in the 16th century.
Adam   Thu Jul 20, 2006 6:17 pm GMT
That should be -

"Nope. They are from the Americas."
Presley.   Thu Jul 27, 2006 6:23 am GMT
<<The Englishman Sir Walter Raleigh introduced them to the rest of the world in the 16th century.>>

Hmm, I thought the Spaniards brought them to Europe after their contact with the Incas.
Guest   Thu Jul 27, 2006 6:50 am GMT
>>However, I don't think any native speaker of English uses the pronunciation with broad [A]. Are people aware of this when they use the expression and it's all jocular? Or is there a place where people actually use [A] in "potato"? <<

I always thought it was a spin-off from "tomahto, tomayto" since no one actually says "potahto" as far as I know.