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. – hippietrail Jan 12 '12 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 !!! – Sep 09 '16 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 Yargs Sep 09 '16 at 19:18
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Now I suppose someone will ask what "hash browns" are, and "American fries". – Hot Licks Sep 09 '16 at 22:00
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@hotLicks Well they hasn't in four years! Since I asked this question. – Alvar Sep 12 '16 at 23:05
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@svenyargs It was actually a discussion in the chat room for ask ubuntu about four years ago. Where I wanted to know the correct international term for this item. :) (I think this being a question of what I ate for breakfast...) – Alvar Sep 12 '16 at 23:07
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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.
Stefano Palazzo
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so for a international term that works everywhere is potato chips recommended? – Alvar Jan 06 '12 at 13:59
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It is if you ask me :) Even though I can't find any good citation or recommendation by anyone authoritative - it seems very sensible. – Stefano Palazzo Jan 06 '12 at 14:03
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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? – Tim Lymington Jan 06 '12 at 14:21
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@Tim: They'd probably be called turnip French fries. You could also call them turnip fries or French-fried turnips, but the first may be too ambiguous, and I haven't seen the second used, maybe because it's not as appetizing. (I think I've seen sweet potato fries, but making chips out of these is quite common here so there is less ambiguity.) – Peter Shor Jan 06 '12 at 15:05
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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"). – FumbleFingers Jan 06 '12 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! – Matt E. Эллен Jan 06 '12 at 18:31
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It should perhaps also be noted that what you normally get when you order fish and chips in the UK are not French fries, but (a variation of) Belgian fries. French fries are thinly sliced, whereas the fish and chips ones are usually at least semi-thick. – Janus Bahs Jacquet Sep 09 '16 at 19:04
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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! :) – Alvar Oct 29 '16 at 08:56
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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.
Barrie England
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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 H Sep 16 '13 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?
slim
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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. – Marthaª Jan 13 '12 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? – hippietrail Sep 16 '13 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. – Hot Licks Sep 09 '16 at 21:48
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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.
Jay
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4Your understanding is incorrect. A chip is not typically wedge-shaped, but rather an extruded rectangle. – Marcin Jan 06 '12 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. – Peter Shor Jan 06 '12 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. – Peter Shor Jan 06 '12 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. – Mark Booth Jan 06 '12 at 17:36
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McDonald's fries in the UK are cut. A few years ago Burger King tried to introduce "stealth fries", which were reconstituted/extruded, but they went down like a lead balloon, and were withdrawn. Shame really - I quite liked them. – FumbleFingers Jan 06 '12 at 18:25
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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. – Marcin Jan 06 '12 at 19:18
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My understanding is that American "french fries" can be thinner [which may be called "shoestring fries", but may also simply be called french fries] than the thinnest that British "chips" can get and that vice versa "chips" can be thicker than the thickest "french fries" [which might be called "steak fries" or (recently in fast food) "natural-cut fries", but might also simply be called french fries], but that there's significant overlap. – Random832 Jan 06 '12 at 19:49
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Googling, it looks like McDonalds fries are cut in the U.S. as well, after which they're also treated with preservatives and flavorings, frozen, and sent off to the franchises. – Peter Shor Jan 06 '12 at 19:49
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I'd also note that "crisps" is occasionally used in the US... One famous brand, Pringles are called "crisps" on the label, which may lead some to believe that the word implies they are made of reconstituted potato product. – Random832 Jan 06 '12 at 19:54
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But Pringles are not generally referred to as "crisps" in the UK, but as "Pringles": they're too regularly shaped to be crisps. – Colin Fine Jan 08 '12 at 22:38
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@Marcin: Yes, brain freeze. I got mixed up. I'd edit my answer to correct it but the discussion has now gone so far that that would just make the thread confusing. – Jay Jan 10 '12 at 16:56
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This is what I mean with "potato chips" http://www.gratissaker.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/gratis-chips.jpg the swedish words for this is chips... – Alvar Jan 12 '12 at 23:38
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"Crinkle cut" is not "traditional" -- the original "french fries" in the US were undoubtedly straight slices, but many restaurants differentiated themselves by "crinkle cutting" them, producing a somewhat crisper texture. (And of course there are also "crinkle cut" or "ripple" potato chips.) – Hot Licks Sep 09 '16 at 21:50