In school I learned to say 'crisps' but I don't want to mix it with french fries. So what's the correct term for potato chips, and what synonyms are there?
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Do you really mean to say "term for the word"? That doesn't sound right at all.– hippietrailCommented Jan 12, 2012 at 18:49
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I once ordered Fish and chips in Canada. What I got was fried fish and 'wafers' not French Fries. When asked I was told I should have ordered Fish and French Fries !!!– user195575Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 18:42
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The thrust of this question would be clearer if you specified where you want to use the word. I assume that you are asking "What is the correct term [in some specified country or region] for the food item that people in the United States call 'potato chips'?" but without knowing what country or region you want to communicate the idea in, answerers have to guess. By the way, when I lived in Calgary, Alberta, in the early 1970s, a request for "chips and gravy" at a restaurant there yielded a plate of french fries and small dish of thin brown sauce.– Sven YargsCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 19:18
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Now I suppose someone will ask what "hash browns" are, and "American fries".– Hot LicksCommented Sep 9, 2016 at 22:00
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@hotLicks Well they hasn't in four years! Since I asked this question.– AlvarCommented Sep 12, 2016 at 23:05
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4 Answers
Wikipedia has a nice list of Terms at the beginning of their article:
Potato chips (known as crisps in British and Hiberno English; either chips or wafers in Indian English; and chips in American, Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, Singapore, South African, and Jamaican English) ...
They chose potato chips as the article's lemma, which seems to be the least ambiguous term in common use.
answered Jan 6, 2012 at 13:58
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so for a international term that works everywhere is potato chips recommended?– AlvarCommented Jan 6, 2012 at 13:59
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3Now that chefs are making chips(=French fries) out of beetroot, turnip and other vegetables, potato chip in the UK would just mean (US) 'normal French fry', so I fear there is no international term. BTW, what would the AmE be for a (BrE)turnip chip? Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 14:21
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3In the UK, potato chips never means the things we call crisps. Normally [potato] chips are the things you eat hot (with fried battered fish, for example). But sometimes (particularly when "potato" is specified) it means those snacky things that come in packets, 4-6 cm long, with 6-8mm square cross-section, made of reconstituted potato powder, air, and oil (I have no idea whether they can meaningfully be said to have been "fried"). Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 17:33
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4If anything "potato crisp" would be least ambiguous, because it is potato that has been thinly sliced then fried to a crisp. At no point is it ever chipped! Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 18:31
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1@stefanoPalazzo this just got golden! 10k views, on our small diskussion in AU chat. I think someone asked me what I had for breakfast that started this diskussion! :)– AlvarCommented Oct 29, 2016 at 8:56
In British English, chips are deep-fried pieces of potato cut in varying lengths and with a profile that can also vary, but which might roughly be 1cm square. In American English, these are, I understand, called French fries, or just fries. Very thin deep-fried slices of potato, usually sold in bags and typically eaten as an accompaniment to beer are crisps in British English. Elsewhere, I believe they are confusingly called chips. So, no, there’s no one term that is internationally reliable. If in doubt, ask to look before you eat or buy.
EDIT:
Chips can also be bought frozen to cook in the oven. They're known by the strikingly original name of oven chips.
answered Jan 6, 2012 at 17:09
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1And there's even, in the same sequence of decreasing flavour, micro-chips, for "cooking" in the microwave. Alternatively you could eat the cardboard box!– Chris HCommented Sep 16, 2013 at 13:38
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These are potatoes cut into pieces about the width of a finger, and deep fried in lard, beef dripping, or some other fat with similar cooking properties, until the middle is cooked.
In Britain, they are known as "chips".
In the USA they are sometimes known as "chips" (when served as part of "fish and chips"), but they are more frequently called "French fries" - although an American might well complain that these French fries weren't crispy enough.
These are potatoes cut into narrower pieces, and deep fried in vegetable oil, with the aim of getting a crispy outside.
In Britain they are known as "French fries" on packaging and restaurant menus. Many British people would still call them chips.
In the USA they are known as French fries, or just "fries".
These are potatoes sliced very thinly, and fried until they are rigid and crispy.
In the UK they are known as "crisps". In Britain, if you asked for "chips" and received crisps, you'd be surprised.
In the US they are known as "potato chips" or sometimes just "chips".
These are an arbitrary pre-packaged snack that are not made from potato. Although these ones are corn puffs with spicy flavouring, the picture is meant to represent the whole range of crunchy savoury snacks that come in bags.
In the UK, although the packaging will never say "crisps", a person might casually refer to them as "crisps" anyway - knowing it's not strictly accurate, but not caring.
I think an American might similarly refer to them as "chips". Perhaps an American can comment and confirm?
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3Your last picture is what I'd call "cheese puffs". Though the ones in the picture don't look like they're cheese flavored, at which point I don't know what I'd call them.– MarthaªCommented Jan 13, 2012 at 16:07
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1I think this is the best answer as it clearly covers both terms for both items. As for the the bonus bit at the end, we have a great question on this very topic! Does British English have a word for dry, starchy savoury snacks that are not fried slices of potato? Commented Sep 16, 2013 at 13:39
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Just to compound things, many US "french fries" are initially boiled in water in a factory, frozen, and then flash-fried in the restaurant. Commented Sep 9, 2016 at 21:48
Speaking as an American: I understand that in British English, "potato chips" refers to wedges of potatos that are fried but still have a soft center. In American English, "potato chips" are very thin sliced and fried to a crisp. What the British call potato chips, Americans call "home fries" or "potato wedges".
I don't know of any term that would mean the same thing on both sides of the Atlantic.
To an American, "french fries" are potatos cut into long, thin strips, traditionally "crinkle cut" but McDonalds introduced straight-cut fries and that has become something of the norm.
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4Your understanding is incorrect. A chip is not typically wedge-shaped, but rather an extruded rectangle.– MarcinCommented Jan 6, 2012 at 16:17
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2Having eaten fish and chips in England, I believe English chips are indeed American french fries. Look at the results of a Google image search for fish and chips and tell me these aren't french fries. Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 16:20
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@Marcin: they're not supposed to be extruded potatoes, at least in the U.S. (and I assume in Britain as well), but cut potatoes. You can't assume that McDonalds serves real french fries (or hamburgers, for that matter). I believe the chips I've eaten in the U.K. were cut. Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 16:23
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7@PeterShor - Many Brits use both chips and French fries. The skinny fries you get at fast food places (especially US chains) are often called French fries while chip shops would normally sell what Americans would call steak fries as chips. Sometimes pubs and restaurants will offer the choice of French fries or chips, and if not the type of chip an establishment serves can determine whether people choose to eat there or not. Commented Jan 6, 2012 at 17:36
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3@PeterShor: I mean that the shape is (at least ideally) an extrusion, regardless of the mechanical process by which the chips are manufactured.– MarcinCommented Jan 6, 2012 at 19:18