As someone who lived in England for three years, I have encountered many a food with a shocking name.
I'm pretty sure the English are naming things "bangers and mash" and such on purpose, but there are many foods with dirty names that don't seem as self-aware.
For your pleasure and education, I present to you:
The List of Foods that Sound Dirty but Aren't
Spotted dick Cock-a-leekie soup
Bangers and mash
Toad in the hole
Coq au vin
Matzo-stuffed breasts Eggs in a basket
Mozart balls
Pound cake
Hard rolls
Sticky buns
Stuffing
Bubble and squeak
Rump roast
Head cheese
Whipping cream
Nut goodie
Lik-em-aid
Grape Nuts
Succotash
Banana split
Fish taco
Kumquat
Jerk chickenClamato
Fluffer Nutter
Atomic Fireballs
Blow pops
Nut roll
Conch fritters
Spicy tuna roll
Buttered crumpet
Cochinita
A special thanks to all my buddies who helped me with this list. Know more? Let me know!
10-25-2008 @4:18PM joey said... I actually bought spotted dick at the local store here a few years ago just to see what it was. While it is nothing more than cake in a can I just couldnt get over the name that i gagged on it. hahahah get it spotted dick and gagged... yeah that just doesnt work for Americans :P
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10-25-2008 @5:32PM ericamklein said... I had a whole conversation at work yesterday about how wrong cock-a-leekie soup sounds. Apparently my coworkers and I are all about 5 years old on the inside.
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10-25-2008 @5:36PM Will said... I'm English and Spotted Dick never fails to make me giggle like a schoolgirl... But bangers and mash? Naww, that's not dirty. Maybe we're just used to the name, but sausages can be quite innocently called bangers, and mash is, well, mash potato.
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10-25-2008 @6:30PM karen said... Don't make me look all these up myself!! What ARE these? :)
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10-25-2008 @10:21PM Michael said... Madame, you must have sex on the brain.
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10-25-2008 @11:46PM Al said... That canned spotted dick is a pale sponge cake copy of the real thing. Boiled or steamed suet (beef fat) pudding cooked as a long roll of dough, heavy and rich and full of raisins, served hot with butter and sugar. OMG. I'm drooling.
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10-26-2008 @12:20AM mamajane.123 said... Half of the items on your list are just American connotations for certain words. They have nothing to do with cooking or what the item really is.
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10-26-2008 @12:43AM Fred Martin said... Annie you poor girl are you so prudish that those foods sound dirty or was your article just another example of inane, unfunny, stuffy, British humor?
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10-26-2008 @1:57AM Dan said... bun-length wieners didn't make the list?
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10-26-2008 @2:06AM Uncontrol said... this post
this post is where slashfood officially jumped the shark
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10-26-2008 @8:56AM Dr. Mitchell R. White said... A delightful post! Of course we take delight in funny or odd (or dirty) names for our food. Here are some I remember:
Hung Wang (noodles)
Whoopie Pie
Hot tamales
Sloppy Joes
Whore's eggs (spiny sea urchins)
Nipples of Venus (chestnut truffles; capezzoli di Venere)
Grunt
Bangbelly
Hooshums
Lassy Mogs
And how did Prairie Oysters get left off the list?
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10-26-2008 @4:06PM olaamigoquepasa said... Pasta Puttanesca - means pasta made in the style of a whore in Italian.
Chi-Chi's - the 'Mexican' restaraunt, means boobs in Spanish.
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10-26-2008 @6:25PM Monty Harris said... Don't forget Squirrel Nut Zippers.
http://www.oldtimecandy.com/squirrel-nut-zippers.htm
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10-26-2008 @10:49PM Pete said... Fish Assholes.
http://www.fugly.com/media/IMAGES/Funny/fish_assholes.jpg
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10-26-2008 @11:01PM Leslie said... At an English tea house we were asked "Do you want jam in your rollie pollies"?--totally with a straight face no less.
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10-27-2008 @12:28AM Amy said... What about Hoffman's Skinless Weiners?
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10-27-2008 @8:49AM Dan said... Great list. What about Suckling Pig? Delicious stuff really. http://www.culinaryseductions.com
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10-27-2008 @3:04PM RJ said... Don't forget the Don and Mike show (now the Mike O Meara show) used to use the term "Gentleman's Relish" as a euphamism for that special substance that gentlemen produce in a state of sexual excitement. Even though that's not what it is, I can't hear the term Gentleman's Relish without being reminded about their use of the term...
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12-09-2008 @5:55AM George The Yankee said... Any one care for some Beef Stroganoff?
=)
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