Redundant food-related names... Redundant means&nbsp;unnecessary repetition in expressing ideasHere is an example of a redundant phrase:Repeat again... repeat means to do or say again, so the phrase c

Richard-Business Eng

Professional Teacher

Redundant food-related names...

Redundant means unnecessary repetition in expressing ideas

Here is an example of a redundant phrase:

Repeat again... repeat means to do or say again, so the phrase could be written as "do again again or say again again".

Here are a few food-related phrases that could be said to be redundant:

Rice Pilaf... The word "pilaf" originally means "ball of rice." So you're really saying "rice ball of rice".

Chai Tea... In many languages around the world, "chai" means tea, so you're just saying TEA TEA.

Shrimp Scampi... In Italian, "scampi" means shrimp, so shrimp scampi is really just "shrimp shrimp".

Ahi Tuna Fish... “ahi tuna" is redundant because in Hawaiian, "ahi" means tuna! So…"tuna tuna".

Naan Bread... Naan is a term for bread (or at least a specific type of it), so it's like saying "bread bread!"

Queso Cheese... "Queso" in Spanish means cheese, so if you ask for queso cheese with your burrito, you're asking for "cheese cheese".

Panini Sandwich... "panini" means sandwiches or bread roll in Italian! So it's either "bread roll sandwich," which just sounds awkward, or it's "sandwiches sandwich".

Carne Asada Steak... "Carne asada steak" is redundant because in Spanish, "carne asada" pretty much means grilled steak/meat, so it would mean "grilled meat steak" or "steak grilled steak."

Can you think of any redundant food phrases from your native language?

Jun 2, 2019 12:05 PM

Comments · 14

Thank you Val

Your example of fish fish fish was good good good :)

Thank you Layla

Thank you for telling us that chai is used in your country. That's good to know.

Thank you Dan

Actually, I had wondered about the term "pizza pie" but I didn't look up the meaning of pizza and so I didn't know that it meant pie, but now I do.

June 2, 2019

It's not truly redundant, because to an English speaker, the non-English name is just an arbitrary name that doesn't mean anything.

When I was a kid, we used the phrase "Pizza pie." This is redundant because "pizza" is just Italian for "pie." Nowadays we just say "pizza," but I don't think this because we are linguistically more sophisticated, I think we are just using "pizza" as a nickname for "pizza pie."

I think "ramen noodles" would be another example. But again, more and more people are just calling it "ramen." (Or is "ramen" the name of the dish you get when you add boiling water to "ramen noodles?")

June 2, 2019

Nada

It's good to hear from you again. I hope you enjoyed reading these funny food names. BTW, I like the font you're using to spell your name.

Tempus

Two great examples... thank you.
I didn't know that chipotle is a smoked jalapeno chile, so thank you for furthering my education.

Robert

There's no need to downvote your comments.
They are what you believe to be true, so it's not necessary to oppose your comments.
I posted these redundancy examples simply for the benefit of any English learners as well as just for having a bit of fun with our languages. None of the redundant phrases are necessary for developing fluency in the English language.

Guyomar

Good to hear from you again.
Thank you for your courteous, reasoned comments.
The list does have a humourous side to it, so I'm glad to learn that you took my posting that way and I'm pleased to know that you enjoyed some of the interesting redundant food names.

June 2, 2019

@Richard

I am neither expert in English nor native speaker, but if following your logic 'tuna fish' from your example already sounds redundant because Tuna itself is a type of fish. So Ahi Tuna Fish is fish fish fish?

June 2, 2019