The Volokh Conspiracy
[Sasha Volokh, October 13, 2006 at 11:34am] Trackbacks
Nachos that do not destroy you make you stronger:

A great story about the true etymology of "nachos." And, the Nietzsche Family Circus, which "pairs a randomized Family Circus cartoon with a randomized Friedrich Nietzsche quote."

(Hat tip to Paul Hsieh, twice: For nachos via GeekPress, and for Nietzsche via NoodleFood.)

Related Posts (on one page):

  1. Nachos that do not destroy you make you stronger:
  2. More Presidents:
  3. Speaking of Neologisms and the OED:
  4. Updating the OED V: Old words!
  5. Updating the OED IV: New words!
  6. Updating the OED III: Habeas --
  7. Updating the OED II: Mirandize --
  8. Updating the OED: Absent --
LittlePig (mail):
Excellent article on the origin of "nachos". I had seen this explaination given in one of the History Channel's food history entries (which I enjoy a great deal), so I knew how the story turned out, but it was fascinating seeing the discovery process unfold.

Thank you!
10.13.2006 11:53am
Kerouacbum:
What do you call cheese that isn't yours?

Nacho cheese.
10.13.2006 12:00pm
Jim Hu:
Interesting that he would call the WaPo first, and have to be pointed to a paper in Texas by them. Note that there is an etymological link between another Tex-Mex food item and a defeated 20th century political system. What is it?

This is probably too easy for Volokh readers, but the answer is at:

http://dimer.tamu.edu/simplog/archive.php?blogid=3&pid=4236
10.13.2006 12:08pm
Jim Hu:
Should be she. Sorry!
10.13.2006 12:09pm
StevenK:
This reminds me of something in Prehistory Of The Far Side that made me laugh more than anything else ever.

The Far Side and Dennis The Menace ran next to each other, but the captions were switched (presumably by mistake).

The Far Side showed a fortune teller talking to a customer back in caveman days, saying "If I get as big as Dad, won't my skin be too tight?" That's just confusing.

But Dennis The Menace has Dennis looking at his mother and saying "I see your little, petrified skull...labeled and resting on a shelf somewhere."
10.13.2006 2:02pm
Timothy Sandefur (mail) (www):
This is particularly timely, given that Sunday is Friedrich Nietzsche's 162nd birthday.
10.13.2006 2:21pm
ys:
Jim Hu:

While your Mexican food/ideology example is interesting, it immediately occurred to me that the very topic of this posting, "nachos," fits the bill.

Consider this etymology from, e.g., here :


Ignatia and Ignatz stem from Latin ignatus = in ‘not’ + natus, gnatus ‘born.’
However, the literal meaning of the elements must be added to, since the adjective did not mean ‘not born’ but ‘low-born, of humble birth.’ And so when Ignatius came to be a male given name in postclassical Latin, its humility made it an apt one for early Christians. There was also a Roman family name, a variant of Ignatius, Egnatius. [I take note that there are other proposed etymologies, ys].


I suppose I don't have to explain what relation the root of the first word of the following term has to do with this connection: "National Socialism"
10.13.2006 2:41pm
Sisyphus:
The Nietzsche Family Circus site is absolutely hilarious. I was particularly surprised at the appropriateness of the quote in this combo:

http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/perm.php?c=158&q=100
10.13.2006 3:36pm
buddingeconomist:
Yes, very appropriate, as is this one:
http://www.losanjealous.com/nfc/perm.php?c=22&q=105
10.13.2006 3:43pm
Allen G:
Hey, I have that book cited, "A Taste of Texas" (1949). It's also known as the Neiman Marcus cookbook, since NM published (no $600 cookie recipes though). It used to be the definitive cookbook every Texas cook had on their shelves.
10.13.2006 3:56pm
Jim Hu:
ys,

missed that...nice point!
10.13.2006 7:01pm

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