Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last night,
on a menu at a café he

Roast turkey panini
Cold-smoke salmon panini
etc etc...

Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling silly
after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun with the
owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into "Who's on
first?"

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> On Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:53:00 GMT, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
>> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last
>> night,
>> on a menu at a café he
>>
>> Roast turkey panini
>> Cold-smoke salmon panini
>> etc etc...
>>
>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
>> silly
>> after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun with
>> the
>> owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into "Who's on
>> first?"
>
> We Americans like those i's at the end of anything Italian.
> Well, except in the case of Spaghetti-O's.
>
> The panini insetad of panino thing is pretty much universal. If
> we changed it now, sales would go down drastically and cause all
> sorts of slowdowns for waitstaff.
>
> -sw

True. But, I think we should pluralize everything. "I'd like the steaks,
medium-rare please". How many steaks?

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last night,
> on a menu at a café he
>
> Roast turkey panini
> Cold-smoke salmon panini
> etc etc...
>
> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling silly
> after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun with the
> owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into "Who's on
> first?"
>
I dunno...I guess if they cut the panino in half they now have panini?
The owner might have just thought you were being rudely pedantic.

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
. ..
> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last
>> night, on a menu at a café he
>>
>> Roast turkey panini
>> Cold-smoke salmon panini
>> etc etc...
>>
>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
>> silly after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun
>> with the owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into
>> "Who's on first?"
> I dunno...I guess if they cut the panino in half they now have panini?
> The owner might have just thought you were being rudely pedantic.

My friend was being silly, even though she was correct. If the menu says
panini, as a heading atop a list of choices, that's correct because it's
plural. But, to list each item with the word "panini" (Roast beef panini
with horseradish sauce) seems incorrect, since that's just one sandwich, at
least in theory.

So, if I'm being pedantic, should a diner's beverage list look like this?
Coffees
Milks
Orange Juices
Grapefruit Juices

JoeSpareBedroom wrote:

> My friend was being silly, even though she was correct. If the menu says
> panini, as a heading atop a list of choices, that's correct because it's
> plural. But, to list each item with the word "panini" (Roast beef panini
> with horseradish sauce) seems incorrect, since that's just one sandwich, at
> least in theory.
>
> So, if I'm being pedantic, should a diner's beverage list look like this?
> Coffees
> Milks
> Orange Juices
> Grapefruit Juices
>
I think comparing the English to Italian is like comparing apples to
oranges.
I hear ya about the panini, but it doesn't grate on my ears near as much
as hearing an American say "I ate the raviolis" but I'll try to fight
the urge to correct them, no matter how silly I'm claiming to feel.

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote

> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last night,
> on a menu at a café he
> Roast turkey panini
> Cold-smoke salmon panini
> etc etc...

> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
> silly after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun
> with the owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into
> "Who's on
> first?"


A menu full of misspellings and grammatical errors once drove a proofreader
friend of mine to pencil in a dozen or so corrections. I don't recall if the
menu was changed, but it made her feel better.

Felice

"Goomba38" > wrote

> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last
>> night, on a menu at a café he
>>
>> Roast turkey panini
>> Cold-smoke salmon panini
>> etc etc...
>>
>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
>> silly after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun
>> with the owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into
>> "Who's on first?"
> I dunno...I guess if they cut the panino in half they now have panini?
> The owner might have just thought you were being rudely pedantic.

They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
plural issues most of their menus have.

nancy

"Felice" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "JoeSpareBedroom" wrote
>
>> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last
>> night, on a menu at a café he
>> Roast turkey panini
>> Cold-smoke salmon panini
>> etc etc...
>
>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
>> silly after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun
>> with the owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into
>> "Who's on
>> first?"
>
>
> A menu full of misspellings and grammatical errors once drove a
> proofreader friend of mine to pencil in a dozen or so corrections. I don't
> recall if the menu was changed, but it made her feel better.
>
> Felice
>
>

She'd lose her mind in this city. This faux pas is on menus everywhere. :-)

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
. ..
>
> "Goomba38" > wrote
>
>> JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>>> Who started this panini madness without checking a dictionary? Last
>>> night, on a menu at a café he
>>>
>>> Roast turkey panini
>>> Cold-smoke salmon panini
>>> etc etc...
>>>
>>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling
>>> silly after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun
>>> with the owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into
>>> "Who's on first?"
>> I dunno...I guess if they cut the panino in half they now have panini?
>> The owner might have just thought you were being rudely pedantic.
>
> They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
> plural issues most of their menus have.
>
> nancy
>

I sort of expect that from non-native speakers of English. Or, Engrish.
www.engrish.com

Goomba38 wrote on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:35:07 -0500:

??>> My friend was being silly, even though she was correct. If
??>> the menu says panini, as a heading atop a list of choices,
??>> that's correct because it's plural. But, to list each item
??>> with the word "panini" (Roast beef panini with horseradish
??>> sauce) seems incorrect, since that's just one sandwich, at
??>> least in theory.
??>>
??>> So, if I'm being pedantic, should a diner's beverage list
??>> look like this? Coffees Milks Orange Juices Grapefruit
??>> Juices
??>>

I tend to agree since I cannot speak or write Italian tho' my
recognition vocabulary for food is just passable. However, tho'
ravioli sounds plural, what *do* you call an individual one? I
suspect ravioli has been around long enough in English usage to
be the same in singular or plural, horrible tho' an Italian
speaker might find that :-) I don't know if the aging process
has gone on long enough for panini but I don't know the singular
here either. I guess speakers of other languages have been
appalled by what English speakers can do for 500 years or more!

James Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

E-mail, with obvious alterations:
not.jim.silverton.at.verizon.not

"James Silverton" > wrote in message
news%lYi.5334$b%1.5258@trnddc01...
> Goomba38 wrote on Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:35:07 -0500:
>
> ??>> My friend was being silly, even though she was correct. If
> ??>> the menu says panini, as a heading atop a list of choices,
> ??>> that's correct because it's plural. But, to list each item
> ??>> with the word "panini" (Roast beef panini with horseradish
> ??>> sauce) seems incorrect, since that's just one sandwich, at
> ??>> least in theory.
> ??>>
> ??>> So, if I'm being pedantic, should a diner's beverage list
> ??>> look like this? Coffees Milks Orange Juices Grapefruit
> ??>> Juices
> ??>>
>
> I tend to agree since I cannot speak or write Italian tho' my recognition
> vocabulary for food is just passable. However, tho' ravioli sounds plural,
> what *do* you call an individual one? I suspect ravioli has been around
> long enough in English usage to be the same in singular or plural,
> horrible tho' an Italian speaker might find that :-) I don't know if the
> aging process has gone on long enough for panini but I don't know the
> singular here either.

Panino

James Silverton wrote:

> I tend to agree since I cannot speak or write Italian tho' my
> recognition vocabulary for food is just passable. However, tho' ravioli
> sounds plural, what *do* you call an individual one?

raviolo, often one large one is the serving.

"Goomba38" > wrote in message
...
> James Silverton wrote:
>
>> I tend to agree since I cannot speak or write Italian tho' my
>> recognition vocabulary for food is just passable. However,
>> tho' ravioli sounds plural, what *do* you call an individual
>> one?
>
> raviolo, often one large one is the serving.

Thanks, I live and learn again! Tho' I'll probably forget
"raviolo" or possibly add it to my illiterate (definitely)
Italian rule: when in doubt, end in "o" :-)



--
Jim Silverton
Potomac, Maryland

"Sqwertz" > wrote

> On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:41:56 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:
>
>> They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
>> plural issues most of their menus have.
>
> I kinda expect multiple shrimps in my dishes.

And if there's something served with Chinese vegetable,
I would like to know which one.

nancy

"Nancy Young" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Sqwertz" > wrote
>
>> On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:41:56 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>>> They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
>>> plural issues most of their menus have.
>>
>> I kinda expect multiple shrimps in my dishes.
>
> And if there's something served with Chinese vegetable,
> I would like to know which one.
>
> nancy
>

The worst offenders are the cheesy little only-a-storefront Chinese places,
many of whom seem to buy their menus from the same printer. At least they're
consistently dumb from place to place. And, where do they get those
pre-faded photos that are installed over the fluorescent lights?
Everything's purple. Or, purper, to be accurate.

On Nov 7, 10:15 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
> "Sqwertz" > wrote
>
> > On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:41:56 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:
>
> >> They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
> >> plural issues most of their menus have.
>
> > I kinda expect multiple shrimps in my dishes.
>
> And if there's something served with Chinese vegetable,
> I would like to know which one.
>
Sometimes "Chinese vegetable" is short for "Chinese preserved
vegetable," which is a pickled/fermented, shredded kind of radish and
cabbage. But you're right, Chinese menus often don't do a good job
with English distinctions between singular and plural. That's because
the Chinese language most often doesn't make any distinction between
plural and singular, relying on context to make it known which is
which, if it matters in the first place, which it often does not. The
language similarly often omits specificity as to verb tense and
gender. So, "ta shuo" might mean "he says" or "they said" or "she'll
say". Context is everything.

As to the Italian -i plural and -o singular, using the Italian form
just sounds odd in ordinary English. A friend of mine the other day
said he had seen a particularly inventive "graffito." Everyone in the
small group gave him a hard time for pretentiously demonstrating that
he know something about Italian...... -aem

"aem" > wrote

> On Nov 7, 10:15 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:
>> "Sqwertz" > wrote
>>
>> > On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:41:56 -0500, Nancy Young wrote:
>>
>> >> They must be a barrel of laughs in a Chinese restaurant, given the
>> >> plural issues most of their menus have.
>>
>> > I kinda expect multiple shrimps in my dishes.
>>
>> And if there's something served with Chinese vegetable,
>> I would like to know which one.
>>
> Sometimes "Chinese vegetable" is short for "Chinese preserved
> vegetable," which is a pickled/fermented, shredded kind of radish and
> cabbage. But you're right, Chinese menus often don't do a good job
> with English distinctions between singular and plural. That's because
> the Chinese language most often doesn't make any distinction between
> plural and singular, relying on context to make it known which is
> which, if it matters in the first place, which it often does not.

I grew up with a Japanese stepmother with similar plural issues,
so it's sort of endearing to me. I laugh about that one printer thing
that Joe mentioned, I've thought that in the past. Maybe they don't
correct it out of some sort of Chinese menu tradition.

> As to the Italian -i plural and -o singular, using the Italian form
> just sounds odd in ordinary English. A friend of mine the other day
> said he had seen a particularly inventive "graffito." Everyone in the
> small group gave him a hard time for pretentiously demonstrating that
> he know something about Italian......

(laugh) Graffito, that's funny.

nancy

In article >,
"Felice" > wrote:

> A menu full of misspellings and grammatical errors once drove a proofreader
> friend of mine to pencil in a dozen or so corrections. I don't recall if the
> menu was changed, but it made her feel better.
>
> Felice

A woman after my own heart.
We just had lunch at a new place yesterday ‹ lots of dishes with bean
curb in them. . . .
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
Notes about our meals in Tuscany have been posted to
http://www.jamlady.eboard.com; 10-16-2007

On Wed, 7 Nov 2007 11:04:42 -0600, Sqwertz >
wrote:

>On Wed, 07 Nov 2007 15:53:00 GMT, JoeSpareBedroom wrote:
>
>> Multiple panini per order? Or, just one panino? My partner was feeling silly
>> after a glass of wine, and took this opportunity to have some fun with the
>> owner, who was taking orders. He didn't get it. It turned into "Who's on
>> first?"
>
>I've been tempted to uphold menus that advertise chicken wings
>(since they're usually severely overpriced anyway).
>
>What they actually serve are half wings. If I order 6 chicken
>wings, I want 6 full chicken wings. Not 6 chicken wing *halves*.
>
>-sw

are you disappointed that they don't come with feathers?

your pal,
blake