chippies. do you have them and what are they called? what do you call fish and chips?
how do you distinquish chips and fries?
to add clarification:
crisps are what you commonly call chips. crunchy things that come in packets
chips are sort of fat sometimes soft but can be hard if overdone
fries are what you get from mcdonalds.
30 comments
We don’t have chippies. Fish and chips are sold at British themed pubs and restaurants, and are called fish and chips. However that’s a set phrase that is understood to mean what it means in the UK. Does not cause confusion, chips are otherwise called fries.
We only use “chips” to refer to French Fries in the context of “Fish and Chips.” It’s the name of the dish, though we will call the actual fried potatoes “fries.”
There’s precious few “chippies” in the US. Some restaurants will offer fish and chips on the menu though.
French fries come in many different shapes. Thick, thin, waffle…
We have fish and chips and it’s pretty much the only time they are called chips.
French fries are fries and chips are chips.
>do you have them
No. We certainly have restaurants that roughly serve as the equivalent of cheap, non-chain fast food, but the specific type of food depends on the region.
>what do you call fish and chips?
Fish and chips. Its a pretty common bar/restaurant staple.
>how do you distinquish chips and fries?
Outside of Fish and Chips, we don’t reference fries as chips.
Chips are french fries and all fries are French fries – although I believe we call the thicker cut kind steak fries. Crisps are chips. Also, biscuits are cookies.
The only time fries get called chips here are when you order fish and chips, and only within the context of the name of the dish itself.
Also worth noting we only call fried north Atlantic white fish “fish and chips.” For example, fried catfish with a side of fries is just called fried catfish with a side of fries.
What you’d call chips with fish and chips are what we’d refer to as steak fries or potato wedges. Or just fries.
We also don’t have chippies. Fish and chips can be found at any casual seafood restaurant, most bars, sports bars, and the odd British themed bar.
> how do you distinquish chips and fries?
The same way you just did.
Fast food style fish and chips takeaways are uncommon here. They exist, primarily in coastal regions. Fish and chips is a common dish here.
Chips outside of the fish and chips context are fries. Crisps are more of a cracker style chip in some cases.
We don’t really have “chippies” the way you guys do. But here in New England we have clam shacks and lobster shacks which are pretty darn similar. A bunch of fried seafood on order that gets served with fries (sometimes thicker and sometimes more like the thinner ones) and usually a little cup of cole slaw.
Maine is famous for lobster so whole lobsters or lobster rolls are usually available.
[here’s an example from Cape Cod](https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tZP1zcsSU_Os8wwMWC0UjWosLBMNUkxt0xOMzYzMTJKNrQyqEg2NE9LtjSwNLBITbMwNU70Ek7OScxVKM5ITM5WSEvMyc0vLckAAPphFfE&q=clam+shack+falmouth&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS590US590&oq=clam+sh&aqs=chrome.4.0i131i433i457i512j69i57j0i402j46i175i199i512l2j0i512.11492j0j4&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#wptab=si:AC1wQDDDdL41DEgjGyPOBigrwOqEtAfVPK6SpxezkPo4ljNSZlucCTIeF4suN0miNJwAgGA8bitX-s0385mWz_sIaXXVcj74g5bnMagUhjpY0Q7eEI3B1kayHqehPZe7MFN594s3aLaFBiy_3Nb0i4vGmEbzqWyWyg%3D%3D)
“Fish and chips” is a common thing at pubs and restaurants and it means the same thing as it does in the UK whether it is at a sit down place or at an order at the counter place.
Fish and chips is called as such even though it comes with big fat fries. Potatoes fried like that anywhere else are fries. Chips usually come in bags from Herr’s, Utz, Wise, Lay’s (Walker’s in the UK), smaller brands like Zapp’s, or store brands like Great Value. At least we agree that McDonald’s has fries.
We do technically have crisps, such as Pringles, but only because they’re made from potato flour and not sliced like regular chips and so are legally not “chips”.
On a related note, pork roll is legally ***not*** ham, because there’s not enough pork in it to meet the legal minimum, so “Taylor Ham” is wrong. Get with it, NYC metro area.
Fish and chips are called fish and chips. It’s a proper noun like a person’s name. “Fish and chips” is basically seen as a singular menu item.
Otherwise, we don’t have anything to deal with. Brits have to deal with the distinction; fries are fries to us.
We only have distinctions between different fries: steak fries, home fries (not really fries but still a fried potato product), shoestring fries, crinkle cut fries, sweet potato fries, etc.
We understand what chips means to the British and Australia. It’s not at all as difficult to understand what American biscuits are as it is to people in the UK, “it’s a scone mate.” They can’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea of the American biscuit.
1. No chippies, though there may be some special exceptions here and there. We have all kinds of restaurants.
2. Chips = potato chips (crisps), except…
3. Some places sell “Fish and chips.” In this case, most people know that the chips are actually fries.
“Fish and chips” is a meal. It’s not “fish” and “chips”, it’s “Fish and chips” together. We do not ever use “chips” to refer to french fries. We only use “fries”, “french fries”, and, for a confusing period after the Iraq invasion, “freedom fries”.
“Crisps” isn’t really part of our vocabulary. We only refer to those as “Chips”, except for some cheap offbrand chips I’ve noticed call themselves “crisps” instead.
We never use “chippie” and I bet if someone used it here, they’d be looked at like they’re speaking a foreign language.
Chips are only those thing you call crisps. fries are the rest.
Oh this is easy!
1. CHIPS = BAG. Chips come in a bag. They are rarely given with fresh food at restaurants.
2. FRIES = served hot, not prepackaged thin/crispy, these are the typical ‘chips’ you are used to in the UK with fish & chips
I live in Washington state. Seafood and “chips” is a prevalent dish here. Chips are always just fries. I believe what y’all refer to as chips, we would call steak fries here in the States.
Haha! It’s only Chips in British English. Almost every other language Fries are simply fries. The only place where they are called chips would be restaurant who are selling fish and chips. Quite a few British style pubs or restaurants might sell them. If I were to mention that to a friend I would mention the entire thing. “Fish and chips” and they would know what I was talking about. Otherwise Chips are your crisps
If you ask for chips in the U. S. they will give you crisps or what we call potato chips.
Here, we call potatoes that are sliced in long thin pieces, or long thick pieces, and baked or fried, ‘fries.’ Or ‘French fries.’
We typically do not have ‘chippies’ or fish and chip shops. We might have a place that sells various fish dishes, we might have a pub or bar or restaurant with fish and chips on the menu, but we don’t offer several types of fried fish into the bargain. Just ‘fish.’
And it will be ‘fish and chips’ on the menu even though we call chips, fries. Maybe because we know it’s a British dish (which originated with the Danish occupiers IIRC?)
Chips are chips and fries are fries. I have never heard a single human in my life say “chippies”
Chips are only called chips when they come as fish and chips.
Crisps, as you call them, are chips here. We have many styles. potato, tortilla, pita,
Cow chips are bovine excrement
Computer chips are PCBs
Fries cover a wide swath of fried potatoes, unless they are sweet potato fries.
Standard cut- What you would expect at McDonalds
Curly Fries- this is a spiral of fried potato, usually has the same thickness as a standard fry
Shoestring- these are really thin, almost like a spaghetti noodle
Crinkle cut- these are corrugated and are usually thicker, much more surface area
Steak-thick cut fries
Potato wedges- A skin on fry that is about an eighth of a whole potato
Waffle cut fries- hard to describe, but maximum surface area
Tatter tots- slugs of shredded potato
Personally, I don’t like chips,crisps, or fries
I have a reverse question. How do you deal with the whole biscuits thing? Biscuits here are fluffy, buttery, and savory. What do you call those if you call our cookies biscuits?
I don’t care in the slightest what shape my chopped and fried potatoes are in or what they are called – yes to all of it.
We *don’t* have to “deal with” it, because there are only two distinguishing characteristics:
* Thin (~1/8″ or ~3mm), fried = chips. On the thicker end, they’re still chips, but usually called “kettle chips.”
* Thicker than the above = fries.
It really isn’t confusing to Americans.
pretty simple, fish and chips is fish and fries. fries are fries and chips are chips. not sure why this would be confusing
Chips in America are fries. Crisps in America are chips.
However, to stay true to its origins, our menus still say fish and chips at most restaurants that serve this dish.
We don’t have chippies or fish and chips in the US unless it’s a UK themed restaurant. We call chips French fries here and we call the other chips the “crunchy things that come in packets”. We can distinguish the two by the fact French fires are usually more solid and longer, while chips are slim cut and rounded. Pretty obvious differences.
Based on my limited British media intake, I think the American equivalent of a chippie is a diner. We also have things called “greasy spoons” or “hole in the walls” which serve unhealthy fried foods.
We aren’t confused at all – the confusion seems entirely limited to Brits having trouble adapting when they visit.