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If you ask me, Reddit’s “No Stupid Question” forum is just one of the best things – if you’re looking to muse on something you’ve genuinely never thought about before, of if you’ve got your own inane but burning question, now you have somewhere to go – and I think that’s great.
This guy is wondering why pickled cucumbers are called “pickles” and not “pickled cucumbers” in the way we don’t rename anything else we’ve pickled, and guess what?
Who decided “pickles” were pickled cucumbers and everything else was to be referred to as “pickled ______”?
byu/Joezze inNoStupidQuestions
Reddit’s got answers!
12. No liquids, lady.
My friends nutty aunt wanted to bring her glass jar of homemade pickled vegetables (still swooshing around in the slurry) with her on her flight from San Francisco, CA to Portland, Oregon because she thought that Portland wouldn’t have any good food.
She had an argument with the TSA. I think let her through after she dumped out all the juice and they x-rayed all the vegetables.
BTW, Portland has good food.
11. Because they’re the most popular.
They’re the most common pickled item in the US, but the term generally refers to the most common pickled item.
A similar occurred with ketchup which used to refer to a mushroom sauce, but tomato ketchup has taken over in popularity and as such, “ketchup” is often defaulted to tomato ketchup.
Some pickle brands still specify cucumbers, and some ketchup bands still specify tomato.
10. See?
Adding on to this. The most common type of pickle in Pakistan in mango pickle and everyone calls it just pickle. All other pickles are referred to as pickled xyz.
The point is that its probably like this in other parts of the world and because of Hollywood etc people now generally think of pickles as pickled cucumber by default
9. For the grammar nerds.
Grammar wise this type of naming convention is called synecdoche. Synecdoche is when a general term is used to refer to a subset, like pickles.
It also can mean the exact opposite when subset is used to refer to a whole, like Kleenex instead tissue.
It’s my favorite word.
8. We do love our pickles.
That’s only in the US and Canada. The rest of the English speaking world calls them gherkins.
Cucumbers are, by far, the most commonly pickled vegetable. That’s probably why Americans use the abbreviated name to refer to pickled cucumbers.
7. I feel like this could be confusing.
In India “pickle” means various different pickled things- mango, limes, carrots, etc. They don’t say “pickles” though. Only “pickle.”
Edit to endorse one of my favorite snacks of all time: gongura (hibiscus leaf) pickle spread over buttered toast. My Indian coworker introduced me to it and it’s incredible
6. You can make a pickle out of anything you’d like.
There’s pickled beets, and pickled eggs, and pickled onions and pickled jalapeños, and pickled carrots and pickled cabbage (sauerkraut) and pickled green tomatoes and piccadilly and chow-chow…
…pickled okra, pickled peppers, pickled watermelon rind… That- that’s about it
5. There can be cultural differences.
They’re the most popular picked things. However, in the UK they are called “gherkins.”
In the US that’s a thing but slightly different than what we call pickles. Gherkins are like a smaller crunchier pickle and normally more “irregularly” shaped if that makes sense
Edit to add from Google: “
What is the difference between a gherkin and a pickle? A ‘gherkin’ usually refers to some kind of cucumber, but a ‘pickle’ may or may not. Basically, in common everyday language in North America specifically, a pickle refers to a cucumber that has been pickled, and a gherkin is a specific type of baby cucumber that has been pickled.”
4. It’s probably all to do with popularity, to be honest.
A better question is who decided “toast” was toasted bread and everything else was to be referred to as “toasted __”?
Same person who decided that “fries” are fried potatoes and everything else is “fried ____”
3. That’s a lot of pickling.
I live in Scotland, we call pickled onions pickles and also things like branston pickle a pickle.
2. A marketing scheme?
I don’t know for sure but I think it has to be some kind of a mid-20th century marketing thing.
If you read any historical books (pre-20th century) that mention canning or pickling, they will clearly designate which thing is being pickled. And they loved to pickle everything: eggs, beef, pork, fish, tomatoes, onions, garlic, cabbage, okra, beets, peppers (both bell and hot), carrots, melons (and melon rinds), even apples and peaches.
1. I would like to try this.
As a born American when I hear pickles I think cucumbers. So when my Romanian BF said his Mother sent homemade pickles that’s what I expected.
Nope, it was the most awesome mix of veggies: cauliflower, carrots, celery, tomato and peppers in a gallon jar.
She usually alternates between that and brined red cabbage. Great stuff.
Now I want cucumbers. And also pickles. Dang.
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