Category: S
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Savoury
In the Old Testament, eating is used as a metaphor for learning when Adam and Eve taste the fruit of the forbidden tree of knowledge and become aware of alarming new facts—they realize, for example, that they are naked, a condition so distressing that they make themselves clothes. The same association of eating and knowledge…
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Savory
The minty herb called savory acquired its name not because it makes dishes savoury. The herb’s name, in fact, is not related to the word savoury at all, but rather derives from the Latin satureia, meaning satyr’s herb. This Latin name was bestowed on the herb because satyrs, the mythical beasts who were halfgoat and…
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Saucisson
The French word saucisse, which entered English as sausage, also gave rise to the word saucisson, which literally means big sausage. Since appearing in English in the late eighteenth century, however, saucisson has developed a perhaps more useful meaning: it now designates a sausage that does not need to be cooked before it is eaten.…
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Satay
A satay is a Malaysian dish made by grilling pieces of meat on a skewer, and then serving them with a spicy sauce. According to the travel writer who introduced the word to English in 1934, the source of the dish’s name is the Chinese word satae, denoting three pieces of meat. Embark on a…
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Saskatoon
The Western Canadian berry known as the saskatoon derives its name from the Cree misaskwatomin. In turn, this Cree name is made up of misaskwat, the name of the bush that produces the berry, and min, meaning berry. Further back, misaskwat derives from misa skwat, meaning that which is solid wood, so called because the…
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Sarsaparilla
Sarsaparilla, a carbonated beverage and acclaimed medicinal tonic, takes its name from the plant from which it is made. In turn, the sarsaparilla plant likely derives its name from two Spanish words: zarza, meaning bramble, and parilia, which is the diminutive form of the Spanish parra, meaning vine. Further back, the Spanish word zarza derived…
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Sardine
Although sardines were eaten fresh for thousands of years, this changed in the 1820s when the French began to can them in oil. In England, so popular did these canned sardines become that the expression to be packed in like sardines emerged in the first decade of the twentieth century as a metaphor for a…
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Sapid
In Latin, the verb sapere means both to taste and to know, the notion being that metaphorically “tasting” something allows you to gain knowledge about it. Similarly, in English, the word taste itself also has this double sense: usually it refers to the flavour of food, but having good taste can also mean knowing what…
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Sangria
The French term sang-froid literally means cold-blooded, but these two idioms have different connotations: murderers and snakes are cold-blooded, but pool hustlers display sang-froid. Different yet again is someone of a sanguine temperament—someone who “takes heart” when faced with a challenge, someone who is optimistic and even amorous. All these sang words derive from the…
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Sandwich
The usual story behind the naming of the sandwich dates back to 1762 when John Montagu, the fourth earl of Sandwich, refused to leave his gambling table to eat, despite having been playing cards for over twenty-four hours. Instead, Montagu asked that a piece of beef between two slices of bread be brought to him…