THE TIME HAS come, friends. The time for mince pies, and with that, the eternal question.
Why in tarnation is the stuff inside mince pies called mincemeat? It doesn’t make any sense.
However, mincemeat is not the only thing we encounter in life which seems to be misnamed. Here are some things whose names just don’t make sense.
Mincemeat
We said it before and we’re saying it again. The name no longer makes sense.
Once upon a time it did actually contain meat, but these days the mix of dried fruit and spices rarely even contains suet.
Sweetbreads
The fancy food name for for the throat, pancreas, glands, tongue or testicles of animals when cooked and served is disturbingly inaccurate.
Imagine encountering that on a restaurant menu if English wasn’t your first language? Nightmare.
Urinal cake
Why is a block used to soak up the unpleasant odour of urine called a cake?
Wrong.
Spotted dick
It’s never good when the name of a food conjures up thoughts of venereal disease, so one has to wonder why the Brits persist in calling this cake spotted dick.
Hot dogs
The origin of this misnomer is somewhat troubling, apparently it was commonly believed that dog meat was used to make sausages until the mid 1800s.
As a result, sausages were commonly referred to as ‘dogs’. However, those days are gone. Surely we should let go of the link now?
Guinea pigs
This name comes from Latin, but it doesn’t make much sense.
These guys are not pigs, they’re rodents, although they are pretty cute.
Buffalo Wings
This one has been confusing people on reality TV shows for years, and we can see why.
However, the origin of this delicious food item is how it got its name. You see, the Buffalo does not refer to animal, but the place.
These wings originated in Buffalo, New York and the name has stuck. Although in Buffalo, people just call them wings.
Koala bears
They’re not bears, they’re marsupials, so why must they persist in lying to us?
Their closest living relative is the wombat, for goodness sake!
