Yet another curious suggestion for the origin of spud for potato has to do with another name for a potato that is common in Ireland: Murphy. Since, for some reason, people named Murphy inevitably get the nickname Spud, and potatoes are sometimes called “Murphy,” the name Spud was also applied to potatoes.
What is a Murphy potato?
noun, plural mur·phies. an Irish or white potato.
Is Murphy another word for potato?
A Murphy game. 2. or murphy A potato. [From Murphy, a common Irish name.]
What do Irish call potatoes?
The main Irish word for potato is “práta” (prawh-tah) and it’s this word that is used most of the time.
Why is a potato called a spud?
Potatoes are occasionally referred to as Irish potatoes or white potatoes in the United States, to distinguish them from sweet potatoes. The name spud for a potato comes from the digging of soil (or a hole) prior to the planting of potatoes.
What country is the potato originally from?
The humble potato was domesticated in the South American Andes some 8,000 years ago and was only brought to Europe in the mid-1500s, from where it spread west and northwards, back to the Americas, and beyond.
Where did the term spud originate?
Etymology. From Middle English spudde (“small knife”). Origin unknown; probably related to Danish spyd, Old Norse spjót (“spear”), German Spieß (“spear; spike; skewer”). Compare English spit (“sharp, pointed rod”).
Who calls a potato Murphy?
Yet another curious suggestion for the origin of spud for potato has to do with another name for a potato that is common in Ireland: Murphy. Since, for some reason, people named Murphy inevitably get the nickname Spud, and potatoes are sometimes called “Murphy,” the name Spud was also applied to potatoes.
What is the opposite of a potato?
The word potato typically refers to a starchy tuber grown from the Solanum tuberosum plant. There are no categorical antonyms for this word. However, one could loosely use any unrelated foodstuffs as antonyms, e.g., chicken, fish, eggs, etc.
What’s another word for potato?
What is another word for potato?
| new potato | root vegetable |
|---|---|
| spud | tater |
| tuber | earthapple |
| turnip | swede |
| carrot | parsnip |
What do they call bathrooms in Ireland?
An old Tudor phrase for lavatory, jacks is a term more commonly used in Ireland. This is likely a reference to Jack Power, who invented the first multiple cubicle toilet.
What do Irish call hash browns?
Also, hash brown is nothing more or less than a kind of rösti, but is served for breakfast, along with black pudding, bakeds beans, or farl soda.
What is dinner called in Ireland?
Tea (when meaning dinner and not the drink): This is considered a mainly northern working-class term.
Why are holes in socks called potatoes?
* It turns out that spud can also mean “a hole in a sock”. The hole-esque connotations of spud reach back to the 15th Century, where a spudde was a small, sharp gardening tool for digging holes and digging up weeds, (related to the modern-day spade).
Why did the Irish eat so many potatoes?
The Irish often used the good land to grow things like wheat and corn that they would sell to pay their rent. This left the farmers with a small piece of land to grow their own food. Potatoes took up very little space and were very nutritious.
What is a group of potatoes called?
There isn’t a collective noun for a group of potatoes.
Why were potatoes illegal in France?
However, French people did not trust the new food, which was used mainly for feeding pigs, and in 1748 growing potatoes was banned by parliament as they were thought to spread disease, especially leprosy.
What did the Irish eat before potatoes?
Grains. Until the arrival of the potato in the 16th century, grains such as oats, wheat and barley, cooked either as porridge or bread, formed the staple of the Irish diet.
What did Europe eat before potatoes?
Fertile food
Before the introduction of the potato, those in Ireland, England and continental Europe lived mostly off grain, which grew inconsistently in regions with a wet, cold climate or rocky soil. Potatoes grew in some conditions where grain could not, and the effect on the population was overwhelming.
What’s the difference between a spud and a potato?
Above: Potato specimen
Potatoes are only distantly related to sweet potatoes. They are also called “spuds,” which probably originated centuries ago from a term for a spade used to dig holes to plant potatoes.
Why are Spurs called Spuds?
Tottenham fans are called spuds as it is simply a quick and easy play on the word Spurs, it is as simple as that.