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14 Delicious Words For Anyone Who Loves Their Food

BY PAUL ANTHONY JONES
JUNE 27, 2016
It’s easy to think that when it comes to
words related to food English probably
takes second place behind French
which has given us a whole glossary of
culinary terms from ingredients and
elements béchamel mirepoix bouquet
garni to cooking methods and
processes fricassée au gratin
chiffonade to complete dishes and
delicacies cassoulet apéritif amuse
bouche crudités But what English lacks
in words for dishes and delicacies it
more than makes up for in words to do
with the end result—eating and
enjoying food Expand your vocabulary
as well as your Yule hole with these
words for food lovers

1. JUNKET

Nowadays the word junket tends only

to be used to refer to political or press
“junkets”—trips for politicians or
journalists at another’s expense for
promotional purposes Before then
however a junket was a vast
merrymaking feast or banquet where
food and drink were consumed in large
amounts which in turn derives from
the earlier th century use of junket to
refer to a dainty sweet treat or delicacy

2. BOUFFAGE

Another word for a grand feast is

bouffage a term from the th century
derived from an
older French word for “any meat that
eaten greedily fills the mouth and
makes the cheeks to swell ” according
to th century lexicographer
Randle Cotgrave Feel free also to call a
large meal or fine food a spreadation
th century a waffle frolic th
century American English and belly
cheer th century English

3. GUT-GULLIE

Gut has been used to mean the stomach

or originally the abdomen and its
contents since the Old English period
and is the root of a host of gluttonous
words like gut foundered which means
hungry to the point of near starvation
gut head a th century word for
someone who appears dull and slow
witted from overeating and gut gullie
an old Scots dialect verb meaning to
overeat or eat greedily
4. SMELL-FEAST

Noah Webster gave two definitions for a

smell feast One was “a feast at which
the guests are supposed to feed upon
the odors only of the viands ” but the
word’s original meaning dating back to
the early th century is “one who is
apt to find and frequent good tables”—
in other words a scrounger or moocher
who steals your food or expects you to
feed them And if you know anyone like
that you’ll likely need to the know the
word

5. GROAK

… or growk which means

to stare at someone intently and
expectantly hoping that they give you
some of their food

6. LINNARD

The linnard is the last member of a

group to finish their meal An old th
century dialect word from the
southwest of England traditionally the
linnard would have their tardiness
punished by being made to clean up
afterwards
7. TARNISHER

Tarnisher is an old Scots and Irish

dialect word for a huge meal

8. FORENOONS

The forenoon is the portion of the day

between waking up in the morning and
midday which makes a forenoons a
brunch or a light snack taken between
breakfast and lunch A small snack
eaten immediately after a meal
meanwhile is a postpast the opposite of
which is an antepast eaten as an
appetizer or starter

9. RASSASY

Dating back to the th century and

derived from the same root as words
like satiate and satisfy to rassasy
someone is to satisfy them with a great
meal or else to satiate someone’s
hunger with food

10. SPEUSTIC

The adjective speustic first appeared in a

th century dictionary called
Glossographia by the English
lexicographer Thomas Blount Sadly it
lexicographer Thomas Blount Sadly it
doesn’t seem to have caught on—the
Oxford English Dictionary has
unearthed no other record of the word
in print since but that’s not to say that
it isn’t worth remembering It very
usefully describes any meal or plate of
food that’s cooked or thrown together
in haste

11. SWAGE

Derived from the verb assuage meaning

to ease or alleviate swage is an old
British dialect word that can be used to
mean to take in food to let your
stomach settle or most importantly
to relax after a good meal A swager
incidentally is a long thirst quenching
drink

12. TRICLINIUM

Speaking of swaging what better place

to do it than a triclinium? A Latin word
essentially meaning “three couches ” a
triclinium was a Roman dining room or
dining table at which guests would not
sit on individual seats or benches but
rather long couches or chaises longues

13. ABBIOCCO
13. ABBIOCCO

And so long as we’re including words

from other languages the Italian word
abbiocco means “the feeling of
drowsiness that follows a big meal ” To
have a “German bleeding ” or une
saignée d’Allemand is an old French
slang term meaning “to loosen tight
clothes after a large meal” and is
probably based on the heartiness of
German cuisine And even further
afield the Inuktitut word ivik is used by
some Canadian Inuit for the grease
that’s left on your hands after eating
with your fingers

14. YULE-HOLE

So called because it’s an exceptionally

useful word for Christmastime the
Yule hole is the hole you have to move
your belt buckle to after you’ve eaten an
enormous meal And if you don’t have
one you’re not doing Christmas right

Food Language

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