Ketchup

Ketchup (pronounced kech-uhp or kach-uhp)

(1) A condiment consisting of puréed tomatoes, onions, vinegar, sugar, spices etc.

(2) Any of various other condiments or piquant sauces for meat, fish (mushroom ketchup; walnut ketchup etc).

1711: From the Malay (Austronesian) kichap or kəchap (fish sauce), possibly from the dialectal Chinese kéjāp (Guangdong) or ke-tsiap (Xiamen) (akin to the Chinese qié (eggplant) + chī (juice)) or from the Chinese (Amoy) kōetsiap (koechiap) (brine of pickled fish), the construct being kōe (seafood) + tsiap (sauce).  Linguistic anthropologists concluded that if came from the latter, it was probably from the Chinese community in northern Vietnam.  Catsup and the even earlier catchup (1680s) were earlier anglicized forms which died out, except in the US where, south of the Mason-Dixon Line, catsup is still in use.

Tomato came later

Ketchup was originally a fish sauce made from various plant juices but came to be used in English for a wide variety of spiced gravies and sauces.  In the seventeenth century, the Chinese mixed pickled fish and spices and called it (in the Amoy dialect) kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁) meaning the brine of pickled fish (鮭, salmon; 汁, juice) or shellfish.  By the early eighteenth century, the table sauce had arrived in the Malay states (present day Malaysia and Singapore) and colonists took it home to England.  The Malaysian-Malay words for the sauce were variations of kicap & kecap and those evolved into the English "ketchup". 

Published in London, William Kitchiner’s (1775-1827) Apicius Redivivus (Cook's Oracle, 1817), included seven pages of recipes for different types of catsup (1 spelled ketchup, 72 catsup), including walnut, mushroom, cucumber, oyster, cockle and mussel, tomato, as well as more exotic concoctions made with vinegar and anchovies, suggesting the word was adopted to describe just about any spiced sauce.  By the 1870s, English cookbooks and encyclopedias noted mushroom, walnut, and tomato ketchup were the predominate flavors; in the US, tomato ketchup emerged circa 1800 and dominated by the late nineteenth century.  In the English-speaking word, despite Ketchup’s English origins, it seems now regarded as a US form and “tomato sauce” is elsewhere generally preferred.  In German use, Ketchup is now the approved form, the alternative spelling Ketschup now proscribed after being deprecated in a 2017 German spelling reform.

In 2004, US food processing company HJ Heinz conducted its "Four stars fall for Heinz Ketchup" promotion with the debut of Heinz's new Celebrity Talking Labels.  Former Pittsburgh Steelers National Football League (NFL) quarterback Terry Bradshaw (b 1948), dual Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Mia Hamm (b 1972), actor William Shatner (b 1931) and actor Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) were the subjects of the talking labels campaign and the range was released in what Heinz said were "limited-edition bottles of the condiment", each featuring labels with quotes from each celebrity.  The promotion was well-received and extended until 2006 when Heinz offered consumers the opportunity to create their own labels by ordering customized bottles through a page on the Heinz website.

Hot Dog

Hot dog (pronounced hot-dawg)

(1) A frankfurter.

(2) A sandwich consisting of a frankfurter (or some sort of sausage of similar shape) in a split roll, eaten usually with (1) mustard, sauerkraut & relish or (2) Mustard & ketchup.

(3) Someone who performs complex, showy, and sometimes dangerous manoeuvres, especially in surfing or skiing (hotdogging sometimes a defined class in competition).

(4) Someone thought a show-off, especially in sporting competition.

(5) In informal use, an expression of joy, admiration or delight (occasionally also used ironically in the manner of “that’s great”).

(6) In New Zealand, a battered, deep-fried sausage or saveloy on a stick (essentially the same concept as the US corn dog and the Australian Dagwood dog).

(7) In slang, the human penis, a variation of which is the “man sausage”.

(8) In slang, a sexually suggestive physical gesture involving hip movement (usually as hotdogging).

1894: A coining in US English for commercial purposes, the idea being the vague resemblance of the sausage to a dachshund dog, the “hot” from the traditional use of mustard as a condiment although there’s evidence the early suspicion some hot dogs included actual canine meat weren’t entirely without foundation.  The use as (1) an interjection expressing joy, admiration or delight was another US creation dating from around the turn of the twentieth century (the circumstances unknown) and (2) a descriptor of someone who performs showy, often dangerous stunts was also an Americanism from the same era.  It seems to have begin in sport and is still widely used but has become best known for its use in skiing and surfing where it’s institutionalized to the extent some competitive categories have been named thus.  The variation “hot diggety dog” (also clipped to “hot diggety” was used in the same sense as the interjection “hot dog”, the interpolated “diggety” there for emphasis and rhetorical effect.  The slang synonyms (mostly in the US and not applied exclusively to hot dogs) have included “tubular meat on a bun”, “frank”, “frankfurt”, “frankfurter”, “glizzy”, “pimp steak”, “tube steak”, “wiener”, “weeny”, “ballpark frank”, “cheese coney”, “cheese dog”, “Chicago-style”, “Chicago dog”, “chili dog”, “Coney Island”, “corndog”, “footlong”, “junkyard dog”, “not dog”, “pig in a blanket”, “steamie” “veggie dog” & “frankfurter in a bun”.  In informal use, both single word contractions (hotdog) and hyphenated forms (hot-dog, hot-dogger etc) are common and “hot dog!” as an interjection is heard in the US, especially south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Extra mustard: Lindsay Lohan garnishing her hot dog, New York, 2010.

The construct was hot + dog.  Hot was from the Middle English hot & hat, from the Old English hāt, from the Proto-Germanic haitaz (hot), from the primitive Indo-European kay- (hot; to heat) and was cognate with the Scots hate & hait (hot), the North Frisian hiet (hot), the Saterland Frisian heet (hot), the West Frisian hjit (hot), the Dutch heet (hot), the Low German het (hot), the German Low German heet (hot), the German heiß (hot), the Danish hed (hot), the Swedish het (hot) and the Icelandic heitur (hot).  Dog was from the Middle English dogge (source also of the Scots dug (dog)), from the Old English dogga & docga of uncertain origin.  Interestingly, the original sense appears to have been of a “common dog” (as opposed one well-bred), much as “cur” was later used and there’s evidence it was applied especially to stocky dogs of an unpleasing appearance.  Etymologists have pondered the origin:  It may have been a pet-form diminutive with the suffix -ga (the similar models being compare frocga (frog) & picga (pig), appended to a base dog-, or doc-(the origin and meaning of these unclear). Another possibility is Old English dox (dark, swarthy) (a la frocga from frog) while some have suggested a link to the Proto-West Germanic dugan (to be suitable), the origin of Old English dugan (to be good, worthy, useful), the English dow and the German taugen; the theory is based on the idea that it could have been a child’s epithet for dogs, used in the sense of “a good or helpful animal”.  Few support that and more are persuaded there may be some relationship with docce (stock, muscle), from the Proto-West Germanic dokkā (round mass, ball, muscle, doll), from which English gained dock (stumpy tail).  In fourteenth century England, hound (from the Old English hund) was the general word applied to all domestic canines while dog referred to some sub-types (typically those close in appearance to the modern mastiff and bulldog.  By the sixteenth century, dog had displaced hound as the general word descriptor. The latter coming to be restricted to breeds used for hunting and in the same era, the word dog was adopted by several continental European languages as their word for mastiff.  Unmodified, the English Hot Dog has been borrowed by dozens of languages.  Hot dog is a noun, verb & adjective, hotdoggery & hotdogger are nouns, hotdogging & hotdogged are verbs; the noun plural is hot dogs.

For the 2016 Texas State Fair, the manufacturer went retro, reviving the "Corny Dog" name although, in a sign of the times, vegetarian dogs were available.

The corn-dog (a frankfurter dipped in cornmeal batter, fried, and served on a stick), although the process was patented in 1927, seems to have come into existence between 1938-1942 (the sources differ with most preferring the latter) but it received a lexicographical imprimatur of when it began to appear in dictionaries in 1949 and it was certainly on sale (then as the “corny dog”) at the 1942 Texas State Fair.  In Australia, the local variation of the US corn dog is the Dagwood dog (a batter-covered hot dog sausage, deep fried in batter, dipped in tomato sauce and eaten off a wooden stick), not to be confused with the “battered sav”, a saveloy deep fried in a wheat flour-based batter (as used for fish and chips and which usually doesn’t contain cornmeal).  The Dagwood Dog was named after a character in the American comic strip Blondie.  Dagwood, Blondie’s ineptly comical husband, did have a dog albeit not one especially sausage-like and it may simply have been it was at the time the country’s best known or most popular cartoon dog.

The hot dog as class-identifier: David Cameron showing how smart folk handle a hot dog while on the campaign trail, April 2015.

After leaving Downing Street, Harold Macmillan (1894–1986; UK prime-minister 1957-1963) visited Lyndon Johnson (LBJ, 1908–1973; US president 1969-1969) in the White House and was served lunch, a meal the former prime-minister found so remarkable that in his memoirs it warranted an exclamation mark: Hotdogs!  He didn’t comment further but it’s assumed his experience of the culinary treat might have been the Old Etonian’s first and last.  The hot dog certainly can be political, David Cameron (b 1966; UK prime-minister 2010-2016 and another Old Etonian) attracting derision after being photographed eating his hot dog with knife and fork, something declared “out-of-touch” by the tabloid press which, while usually decrying the class system, doesn’t miss a chance to scorn toffs behaving to well or chavs too badly.  Cameron had other problems with takeaway snacks, caught being untruthful about his history of enjoying Cornish pasties, another working class favourite.  So it would seem for politicians, hot dogs are compulsory but only if eaten in acceptable chav style.

Barack Obama (b 1961; US president 2009-2017) and David Cameron eating hot dogs (both in approved manner) at a college basketball game between Mississippi Valley State and Western Kentucky, Dayton Arena, Ohio, March 2012 (Western Kentucky won 59-56) (left) and UK Labour Party Politician Ed Miliband (b 1969) enjoying what came to be known as "the notorious bacon sandwich", May 2014 (right).

Curiously, Mr Cameron, had some three years earlier undergone "hot dog eating training", supervised by President Obama, noted for his expertise (both theoretical and practical) in the subject.  So he knew how it should be done and immediately there was speculation he resorted to knife & fork to avoid any chance of something like Ed Miliband's "notorious bacon sandwich" moment, something which had resulted in ridicule and a flood of memes after the photograph was published by the Murdoch tabloid The Sun on the eve of a general election.     

Peter Dutton (b 1970; leader of the opposition and leader of the Australian Liberal Party since May 2022) enjoying a Dagwood dog in three aspects, Brisbane Exhibition (Ekka), Australia, 2022.  On seeing the photos, Mr Dutton observed of such things: "There is no good angle".  In Australia, it’s probably good for a politician to be known to eat Dagwood dogs but not necessarily be photographed mid-munch.  Mr Dutton has never denied being a Freemason.

The Dagwood dog was responsible for an amusing footnote in Australian legal history, a dispute from the 1949 Sydney Royal Easter Show played out in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in its equity jurisdiction, the press reports at the time noting one happy outcome being an “uninterrupted supply of hot dogs during the next few days.”  Hot dogs were one of the show’s big sellers but a dispute arose when allegations were made there had been breaches of letters patent for "improvements in sausage goods" giving the patentees (who sold “Pronto Pups”) "exclusive enjoyment and profit within Australia for sixteen years from September, 1946.  The plaintiffs (holders of the patent), sought an injunction against those who had begun selling “Dagwood Dogs" at the show, preventing them from vending or supplying any of the improvements in sausages described in the patent, the writ claiming Dagwood dogs embodied the patented improvements and that as a consequence of the infringement, the plaintiffs were suffering economic loss.  The trial judge, ordered a hearing for an assessment (a taking of accounts) of damages to be scheduled for the following April and issued a temporary order requiring the defendants undertook to pay into a trust account the sum of ½d (half a penny) for each for each axially penetrated sausage sold.  The culinary delight has since been a fixture at city and country shows around the country although the name Pronto Pup didn’t survive; after the judgment in the Supreme Court it was replaced by “Pluto Pup” which also didn’t last although whether that was a consequence of a C&D (a “cease & desist letter”) from Walt Disney’s lawyers isn’t known.  Anyway, since then it’s been Dagwood dogs all the way except in South Australia (proud of their convict-free past, they often do things differently) where they’re knows as “Dippy Dogs” (an allusion to the generous dip in the tomato sauce pot) which may be of Canadian origin, although there. in at least some provinces, they’re sold as “Pogos”.

Robert Mitchum (1917–1997) paying attention to Marilyn Monroe (1926–1962).

There are a number of “hot dog” stories about the film star Robert Mitchum, all told in the vein of him arriving at a Hollywood fancy-dress party covered in tomato ketchup and when asked to explain replying: “I’m a hot dawg!”.  That was representative of the sanitized form in which the tale was usually published, the original apparently involved the ketchup being applied to something which, anatomically, more resembled the hot dog’s sausage.

Hotdog Stand color scheme, Microsoft Windows 3.1, 1992.

The industry legend is the “Hotdog Stand” color scheme Microsoft in 1992 shipped with Windows 3.1 was the winner of an informal contest between the designers to see who could concoct the worst possible combination.  Whether or not the idea of the competition was alcohol-fueled depends on which version of the story is told but all agree the winner based her entry on a vision of a hot dog, smothered in mustard and ketchup.  It’s doubtful many deliberately chose “Hotdog Stand” as their default scheme although there were certainly sysadmins (system administrators) who vengefully would impose it on annoying users, the more vindictive adding insult to injury by ensuring the user couldn’t change it back.  However, Hotdog Stand did briefly find a niche because it turned out to be the scheme which provided the best contrast on certain monochrome monitors, then still prevalent in corporations.  Windows 3.1 was the first version of the environment (it sat atop the PC/MS/DR/NW-DOS operating system) to achieve wide corporate acceptance, whereas Windows 3.0 (1990) had tantalized while being still too unstable.  Windows 3.0 was unusual in being (apart from the short-lived 1.0) the only version of Windows released in a single version.  Although it ran in three modes: Real (on machines with only 640K RAM available), Standard (requiring an 80286 CPU & 1 MB RAM) and Enhanced (requiring an 80386 CPU & 2 MB RAM), it shipped as a single product, the user with a command line switch (/r, /s or /e respectively) able to "force" the mode of choice, depending on their hardware's specification.

The Hotdog Stand didn’t survive the upgrade to Windows 95 but a quarter of a century on, someone may have felt nostalgic because a buyer of a 2016 Maserati GranTurismo MC Sport Line configured their car in bright yellow (Giallo Granturismo) over leather trim in red (Rosso Corallo).  As eye-catching in 2016 as Microsoft's Hotdog Stand had been in 1992, the Maserati’s recommended retail price was US$163,520.  Displayed first at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show, the Maserati GranTurismo (Tipo M145) remained in production until 2019, the MC Sport Line offered between 2012-2019.  It's not known how many buyers chose this color combination.

Joey Chestnut (b 1983) (left) and Miki Sudo (b 1986) (right) the reigning men's and women's world champions in hot dog eating.  The contest is conducted annually on 4 July, US Independence Day.

In July 2022, Mr Chestnut retained and Ms Sudo regained their titles as world champions in hot dog eating.  Mr Chestnut consumed 15 more than the runner-up so the victory was decisive although his total of 63 was short of his personal best (PB) of 76, set in 2021.  It’s his fifteenth title and he has now won all but one of the last sixteen.  Ms Sudo won her eighth championship, swallowing forty hot dogs (including the bun) in the requisite ten minutes, meaning she has now prevailed in eight of the last nine contests (in 2021 she was unable to defend her title, being with child and therefore thinking it best to avoid too many hot dogs).

Otto von Bismarck (1815-1989; chancellor of the German Empire 1871-1890) famously observed that people "shouldn't see how laws or sausages are made".  The processes (now effectively institutionalized) which produce legislation are now more disturbing even than in the iron chancellor's gut-wrenching times but sausage production has (generally) become more hygienic.   

Sauce

Sauce (pronounced saws)

(1) Any preparation, now presented almost always as a liquid or semi-liquid, added in a variety of way to food to enhance (sometimes disguise) the taste or accentuate the texture.

(2) Stewed fruit, often puréed and served as an accompaniment to meat, dessert, or other food (always with a modifier: apple sauce, cranberry sauce et al).

(3) Figuratively, to make poignant; to give zest, flavor or interest to; to set off; to vary and render attractive.

(4) In informal use, (usually as saucy or sauciness), impertinence; impudence, defiant cheekiness etc.

(5) In the slang of bodybuilding, anabolic steroids or compounds with similar effects.

(6) In the slang of drug users, a variety of substances, usually those taken in liquid form.

(7) In slang (usually as “the sauce” or “on the sauce”) alcoholic drink.

(8) In slang as “the sauce” or “secret sauce”, some additive or attribute which imparts to someone or something a particular vitality or capability.

(9) In slang, to send or hand over (now rare).

(10) In the slang of the internet, an alternative form of source, often used when requesting the source of an image or other posted material (a use mysterious to those over a certain age).

(11) In art, a soft crayon for use in stump drawing or in shading with the stump.

(12) Garden vegetables eaten with meat (archaic and effectively extinct although examples have been cited in “retro” menus).

(13) To dress or prepare with sauce (historically also as “to season”.

(14) To make a sauce of (fruits, vegetables etc).

(15) To give piquance or zest to something (not necessarily something edible); To cause to relish anything, as if with a sauce; to tickle or gratify, as the palate; to please; to stimulate.

(16) To make something more agreeable or seem less harsh (often as “sauced up” or “sauce it up”).

1300–1350: From the Middle English, from the Middle French, from the Old French sauce, sausse & sause, from the Vulgar Latin salsa (things salted, salt food), noun use of feminine of the Latin salsus (salted), the past participle of sallere (to sprinkle with salt), from sāl (genitive salis), from the primitive Indo-European root sal-(salt).  The spelling sawce is obsolete.  Sauce is a noun & verb, sauced & saucing are verbs and oversauced & sauceless are adjectives; the noun plural is sauces.

Dave’s Gourmet White Truffle Marinara Sauce.

A pasta sauce said to be hand-made using artisanal techniques, it contains vine-ripened tomatoes, white truffle and edible gold flakes.  Offered only in a one-off limited-edition and supplied in a hand-crafted wooden box, the RRP (recommended retail price) was US$1000 per jar.

The original use of "sauce" was to describe the food condiment and until the early eighteenth century the spellings sawce & salse remained common in English, reflecting the influence of French cookery terms.  The seemingly mysterious seventeenth century use of sauce to mean “garden vegetables or roots” was a clipping of “garden-sauce”, the idea being that like a liquid sauce, the vegetables worked as a condiment to the meat.  From the late fourteenth century, it was used to describe “a curative preparation, medicinal salt”, referencing also the use in Antiquity to use (salsa) salt to preserve food.  The figurative meaning “something which adds piquancy to words or actions” was in use by the early sixteenth century while the sense of “impertinence” was first recorded in 1835 although etymologists note the connection of ideas in it is much older.  The use related to liquor (“back on the sauce” etc)" emerged during World War II (1939-1945).  The figurative phrase “serued with the same sauce” (subject to the same kind of usage) was in use by the 1520s while the more enduring “what’s sauce of the goose is sauce for the gander” (one who treats others in a certain way should not complain about receiving the same treatment) was first recorded in the 1670s.  William Shakespeare (1564–1616) used “saucy” to indicate a character’s was hot-tempered or impetuous, such as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet (1597) or Katherina in The Taming of the Shrew (1592).  That use persists but “saucy” is now used also (of women) to suggest a quality of a confident sexiness.

Swamp Dragon's Second Edition Private Reserve Hot Sauce.

The title of "world's hottest sauce" is often contested and chilli breeders are always working to create ever more aggressive peppers.  Blended with a measure of the over-proof dark rum once distilled for the Royal Navy, given the arms race in the field, whether it's still the hottest is doubtful but it apparently remains the most expensive yet advertised at US$500 per bottle.  Unfortunately, it's now sold out so doubtlessly a foodie collectors' item.

In idiomatic use, the now archaic Australian phrase “fair shake of the sauce bottle” was a complaint that one’s fish & chips, meat pie or whatever hadn’t been provided with enough tomato sauce, a cultural comment of some historic significance given the stuff’s role as the nation’s standard all-purpose additive.  The phrase fell from use and is remembered only by the boomer generation and their seniors but it garnered some brief attention when in a television interview Dr Kevin Rudd (b 1957; Australian prime-minister 2007-2010 & 2013) used “fair suck of the sauce bottle”, a variant of “fair suck of the sav”, the idea of that the echo of a complaint once heard from children who believed their sibling might be taking more than their fair portion of a shared saveloy (a type of sausage which in Australia is something like a bigger and more seasoned frankfurter).  The word was a corruption of cervelat (Swiss smoked beef or pork sausage) or the French cervelas (a thick, short sausage) and the name is probably in some way connected with the region of Savoy (which, with border changes, now straddles areas in Italy, France & Switzerland).  Sucking from a sauce bottle is a vivid image, especially if it contains something like chilli sauce.

Quite how many varieties of sauce now exist or have existed isn’t known but it is certainly at least in the hundreds.  The classes include generic indications of use (fish sauce), color (pink sauce), alleged history (admiral's sauce), content (mint sauce), the manufacturer’s name (HP sauce), built in advertising (awesome sauce), identifier or warning (hot sauce), regionalism (Prussian sauce), occasion (coronation sauce), imagery (thousand island sauce), perception (fancy sauce), assertions (magic sauce), strength (XXX sauce) or a specific recipe type (Worcestershire sauce).  Sauce is served in a sauce boat; if serving gravy, then the implement is called a gravyboat.   Some can genuinely be mysterious such as Jezebel sauce, found mostly in the US, south of the Mason-Dixon Line.  Made usually with a mix of pineapple preserves, apple jelly, horseradish, and mustard, it's a condiment with a hot, sweet & saucy character and thus thought an allusion to the reputation of the Biblical Jezebel, the wickedness of whom is recounted in 1 Kings 21:5–16.  She was sort of the crooked Hillary Clinton of her time.

In some markets, tomato sauce is called "tomato ketchup" (in general use almost always clipped to "ketchup").  In 2004, US food processing company HJ Heinz conducted its "Four stars fall for Heinz Ketchup" promotion with the debut of Heinz's new Celebrity Talking Labels.  Former Pittsburgh Steelers National Football League (NFL) quarterback Terry Bradshaw (b 1948), dual Olympic gold medalist, and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion Mia Hamm (b 1972), actor William Shatner (b 1931) and actor Lindsay Lohan (b 1986) were the subjects of the talking labels campaign and the range was released in what Heinz said were "limited-edition bottles of the condiment", each featuring labels with quotes from each celebrity.  The promotion was well-received and extended until 2006 when Heinz offered consumers the opportunity to create their own labels by ordering customized bottles through a page on the Heinz website.

Although lexicographers, chefs and the authors of cook books will tend to be precise, in general use there’s likely sometimes some overlap in the use of “dressing”, “sauce”, “gravy”, “mayonnaise” & “relish”.  As a general principle, the following characteristics of each is an at least indicative list:  A dressing is a liquid or semi-liquid mixture used to flavor and enhance salads or other dishes and made usually with a combination of oil, vinegar, herbs, spices, and other flavorings, the common types including vinaigrette, ranch & Caesar.  A sauce is a thickened liquid or semi-solid food item that accompanies or is used to enhance the flavor of other foods.  Sauces may be savory or sweet and are served both hot & cold, made from a close to limitless number of ingredients such as tomatoes, cream, stock, fruits, or vegetables.  As an example of the wide range of types, at the one meal one may encounter both barbecue sauce, and chocolate sauce.  Gravy is a particular type of sauce, made classically from juices of cooked meat combined with flour or cornstarch, combined sometimes with a liquid such as broth, milk or cream.  Most associated with meat, it’s commonly served also with chips or mashed potatoes and depending on the intended purpose gravies can be seasoned with herbs, spices or even flavorings such as fruit to enhance the taste.  Mayonnaise is a usually thick, creamy condiment made from oil, condensed milk, egg yolks, vinegar or lemon juice, and seasonings.  Most mayonnaise has a richness to the flavor although some can be sweet and some tart.  Relish is made from chopped fruits or vegetables that are pickled or cooked with vinegar, sugar, and spices and while most are in some way tangy with a hint of sweetness, there are some which are very sweet.  Relishes are extensively used in cooking but the most popular use is as a topping or accompaniment to dishes like hot dogs, hamburgers or sandwiches.  Pickled cucumbers are a popular ingredient as is corn and one of the best known relishes is chutney, of Indian origin and from the Hindi चटनी (caṭnī).

Ranga

Ranga (pronounced rang-ah)

In Australian slang, a person with red (ginger, auburn etc) hair

1990s: Based on the name orang-utan (pronounced aw-rang-oo-tan, oh-rang-oo-tan or uh-rang-oo-tan), either of two endangered species of long-armed, arboreal anthropoid great ape, the only extant members of the subfamily Ponginae, inhabiting Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus) and Sumatra (P. abelii).  The alternative spellings are orangutan, orangutang & orangoutang, all of which are used with the same pronunciation variation as the standard form.  In Western zoology, the orang-utan was added to the taxonomic classifications in the 1690s, from the Dutch orang outang, apparently from the Malay ōrang hūtan and translating literally as “forest man”, the construct being ōrang (man, person) + hūtan (forest).  Found in the forests of Sumatra and Borneo, it was noted immediately for its shaggy, reddish-brown hair and this coloration is the source of the Australian slang.

A ketchup of gingers?  Roodharigendag in the Netherlands.

Since 2005 (except in 2020 when COVID-19 stopped such things), the Netherlands has hosted what is described as the "world's largest gathering of redheads".  Unadventurously, the three-day festival (which attracts participants from over eighty nations) is known as Roodharigendag (Redhead Day).  There are a variety of events including lectures and pub-crawls; presumably, coffee shops are visited.

An Orangutan in Sumatra.  International Orangutan Day is 19 August.

Because, once deconstructed, to call someone a ranga is to compare them to a sub-human primate, it would seem the word probably would be thought offensive but it remains widely used and is one of the additions to English which has spread from Australia.  It certainly can be offensive and is often (though apparently mostly by children) used that way but it can also be a neutral descriptor or a form of self-identification by the redheaded.  It may be that many of those who deploy ranga (for whatever purpose) are unaware of the origin with a sub-human primate and treat it as just another word and in that sense it’s actually less explicit than some of the many alternatives with a longer linguistic lineage including ginger minge, firecrotch, carrot top, fanta pants, rusty crutch, & blood nut.  There was also the curiously Australian moniker “blue” (and the inevitable “bluey”) to describe the redheads, an adoption in the tradition of “lofty” sometimes being applied to the notably short.  Whether ranga is more or less offensive than any of those (none of which reference apes) is something on which not all redheads may agree but in 2017 (some months on from ranga being added to the Australian Dictionary), presumably so there was a forum to discuss such matters, RANGA (the Red And Nearly Ginger Association) was formed, finding its natural home on social media where it operates to provide social support rather than being a pressure group.

Ginger, copper, auburn & chestnut are variations on the theme of redheadedness.  Lindsay Lohan demonstrates the possibilities.

Just as blonde women have long been objectified and derided, redheads have been stereotyped as sexually promiscuous (women) or having fiery tempers (men & women) but there is no evidence supporting any relationship between hair color, personality type or temperament.  The sample sizes are inherently small (redheads less than 2% of the global population) but there are populations in which the predominance is higher, so further research would be interesting but such questions are of course now unfashionable.  Most style guides list "red-haired”, “redhead” and “redheaded” as acceptable descriptors but the modern practice is wherever possible to avoid references which apply to physical characteristics, much as the suggestion now is not to invoke any term related to race or ethnic origin.  That way nothing can go wrong.  If it’s a purely technical matter, such as hair products, then descriptors are unavoidable (part-numbers not as helpful at the retail level) and there’s quite an array, ranging from light ginger at the lighter end to chestnuts and and auburns at the darker and there was a time when auburn was used as something of a class-identifier.

Jessica Gagen, Miss England, 2022.

Recently victorious in the Miss England 2022 pageant, Jessica Gagen (b 1995) is the first redhead to take the title.  Having been subject to bullying as a child, Ms Gagen has indicated she’ll be using her platform to spread a positive message to those who have also suffered cruel taunts and she’ll represent England at the 71st Miss World in the (northern) spring of 2023.  After leaving school, Ms Gagen discovered one advantage of her hair color was it attracted modeling agencies and she pursued a lucrative international career.  Now studying for a masters degree in aerospace engineering at Liverpool University, she’s involved in a programme to encourage girls to take up the study of STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) subjects and notes her engineering course has made her aware of the extent to which these fields remain male-dominated.

Peak Jessica: Jessica Gagen pictured cooling off during England’s recent heat-wave when temperatures reached a record 42^o C (108^o F), something long thought impossible because of the interplay of the movement of seawater and sir currents around the British Isles.

Interestingly, Ms Gagen says her participation in beauty contests changed her perception of them as sexist displays, regarding that view as archaic, noting the women involved all seemed to have their own motives, usually involving raising awareness about something of great personal interest.  Another notable thing about Jessica Gagen is that being born in 1995, she is part of that sub-set of the population called “peak Jessica”, the cohort which reflected the extraordinary popularity of the name for a decade-odd.

Tantrum

Tantrum (pronounced tan-truhm)

(1) A violent demonstration of rage or frustration; a sudden burst of ill temper, most associated with children but widely applied to the childish outbursts of adults.

(2) To have a tantrum.

1714: One of English’s etymological mysteries, other than being derived from the earlier tanterum, the origin is so obscure there’s no evidence on which to base speculation and while the first known reference in writing is from 1714, it’s likely it had been in (presumably colloquial) oral use for some time.  There are conventions of use such as “temper tantrum” & the common intransitive “throw a tantrum”; synonymous words and phrases include angry outburst, flare-up, fit of rage, conniptions, dander, huff, hysterics, storm, wax, hissy fit & dummy spit.  The noun plural is tantrums and the rarely used present participle is tantruming (or tantrumming), the past participle tantrumed (or tantrummed).

Social media, SMS or email posts in ALL CAPS or with an extravagant use of question marks (?????) or exclamation marks (!!!!!) convey shouting and are the textual version of a tantrum although this understanding was learned behaviour; many early systems (Telix etc) available only with upper case characters so there was a greater dependency on (?????) & (!!!!!) to denote anger, the asterisk (*****) & hash (#####) symbols inserted to permit vulgarities (f**k, sh## et al) to be understood without being spelled out.  That was a work-around of some significance because the telecommunication legislation in many nations actually prohibited swearing (even on telephone voice calls) over what was then called a “carriage service”, typical wording in the acts being something like:

It shall be unlawful for any person in the operation of any telephone installed within the city, to make use of any vulgar vituperation or profane language into and over such telephone.  (Profanity over telephone: (Code of ordinances, Colombus Georgia, USA, (§ 663 (1914)), Section 14-49)

Such laws probably still exist in many places but instances of enforcement are doubtless rare.

Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD)

Remarkably, as a definable condition, the temper tantrum wasn’t medicalized (as a distinct diagnosis) until 2013 when the fifth edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) was published.  Named Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD), it was classified as a mood disorder noted as affecting children aged 6-18, an unusual concession by the industry that tantrums in very young children are a normal and healthy (if annoying) aspect of human development.

DMDD was thus a new diagnosis but it really was a shift in classification, reflecting the early twenty-first century view that both the autism spectrum and bipolar disorder (BD, the old manic-depression) were being over-diagnosed.  Also a condition that can cause extreme changes in mood, it was noted that misdiagnosing BD can result in unnecessary medications being prescribed, the long-term use of which were associated with side effects including weight gain, lipid & glucose abnormalities and  reduced brain volume (and a diminished number of neurons in the brain).  Thus it being undesirable that BD be over-diagnosed in the young, DMDD exists as an alternative and, although many of the mood-related symptoms overlap with BD, there are as yet no FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration) approved medications for children or adolescents with DMDD and in the recent history of the DSM, that’s unusual.  There have been instances of updates to the DSM removing diagnoses while the specified drug remains on the FDA schedule but it’s rare for one to appear without an approved medication, the symbiosis between the industries usually well-synchronized.  Advice to clinicians continue to include the note that stimulants, antidepressants, and atypical antipsychotics can be used to help relieve a child’s DMDD symptoms but that side effects would need to be monitored, individual and family therapy to address emotion-regulation skills a desirable alternative to be pursued where possible.  The behavioral distinction between DMDD and BD is that subjects don’t experience the episodic mania of a child with BD and they’re at no greater risk of later developing BD although there is a higher anxiety as an adult.  Because of the potentially stigmatizing effects (possibly for life) of a diagnosis of BD, that’s something which should be applied only with a strict application of the criteria.

It’s further noted that DMDD is a diagnosis that should apply to a specific type of mood (the tantrum) distinguished by being extreme and/or frequent; it should thus (as parents have doubtless always regarded tantrums) be thought a spectrum condition.  The markers include (1) severe, chronic irritability, (2) severe verbal or behavioral tantrums, several times weekly for at least a year, (3) reactions out of proportion to the situation, (4) difficulty functioning because of outbursts and tantrums, (5) aggressive behavior & (6) a frequent transgression of rules.  Observationally, DMDD may be indicated by (7) trouble in socializing and forming friendships, (8) physically aggression towards peers and family and even (9) difficulties in the cooperative aspects of playing team sports (although not merely a preference for individual disciplines).

The diagnostic criteria for DMDD require a child to have experienced tantrums (which are severe and/or of long duration) at least three times weekly for at least a year’ especially if between episodes they’re also chronically irritable.  However, if the tantrums are geographically or situationally specific (ie happen only at school or only at church etc) then DMDD may not be the appropriate diagnosis and other disorders (childhood bipolar disorder (CBD), autism, oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)) may need to be considered.  A particular difficulty in the diagnostic process is that not only is there a significant overlap of symptoms in these disorders but instances of conditions themselves can co-exist.  With children, it’s recommended that when possible, DMDD treatment begins with therapy (psychotherapy and parent training), medications prescribed only later in treatment or at least starting in conjunction with therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) thought helpful.

Noted temper tantrums

3 Ketchup Bottles (2021) by Kristin Kossi (b 1984), Acrylic on Canvas, US$8000 at Singulart.

Details of President Trump’s (Donald Trump, b 1946, US president 2017-2021) tantrum which included his ketchup laden lunch ending up oozing down an Oval Office wall were recounted during the congressional hearings into matters relating to the attempted insurrection on 6 January 2021.  Although apparently not the first time plates were smashed in the Trump White House during episodic presidential petulance, such outbursts by heads of government are not rare.  Indeed, given the stress and public scrutiny to which such folk are subject, it’s surprising there aren’t more although it’s usually only years later, as memoirs emerge, that the tales are told.

Warren Harding (1865–1923; US president 1921-1923) was once observed strangling a government official with his bare hands although that might have been understandable, his administration notoriously riddled with corruption.  When Harding dropped dead during his term, it was probably a good career move.

Adolf Hitler’s (1889-1945; head of state (1934-1945) and government (1933-1945) in Nazi Germany) ranting meltdown in the Führerbunker on 21 April 1945 as the Red Army closed on Berlin became a tantrum of legend and was the great set piece of the film Downfall (2004) about the last days of the Third Reich, a scene which has since generated hundreds of memes.

Even before the Watergate scandal began to consume his presidency, Richard Nixon (1913-1994; US president 1969-1974) was known for his temper tantrums, often under the influence of alcohol.  His aides would later recount his expletive-laden tirades during which, apparently seriously, he would order bombings, missile launches and assassinations (all of which were ignored).  His predecessor’s, (Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ), 1908-1973, US president 1963-1969) moods were said to be just as volatile and during episodes he would sometimes wish for whole countries to be destroyed although he stopped short actually of ordering it.

Admiring glance: George Stephanopoulos looking at crooked Hillary Clinton.

Reports of Bill Clinton’s (b 1946; US president 1993-2001) tantrums tend to emphasize their frequency and intensity but note also how quickly they subsided.  In the memoir of George Stephanopoulos ((b 1961; White House Communications Director 1993 & presidential advisor 1993-1996)) focusing on his time as communications director, it’s recounted that Clinton regularly lost his temper and would yell at the staff, the in-house code for the outbursts being “purple fits”, so named because of how red Clinton’s face became during the SMOs “Standard Morning Outbursts”.  Secret Service staff later interviewed were kinder in their recollections of the president but seemed still traumatized when describing his wife’s volcanic temper and Bill Clinton’s outbursts do need to be viewed in the context of him being married to crooked Hillary Clinton (b 1947).

Anthony Eden (1897–1977; UK prime-minister 1955-1957) was elegant, stylish and highly strung; one of his colleagues, in a reference to his parentage, described Eden as “half mad baronet, half beautiful woman” and his great misfortune was to become prime-minister, the role for which he’d so long been groomed.  Ill-suited to the role and in some ways unlucky, his tantrums became the stuff of Westminster and Whitehall folklore, reflected in the diary entry of Winston Churchill’s (1875-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1965 & 1951-1955) physician (Lord Moran, 1885-1975) on 21 July 1956: “The political world is full of Eden's moods at No 10 (Downing Street, the PM’s London residence)”.  The tales of his ranting and raging appeared in much that was published after his fall from office but in the years since, research suggests there was both exaggeration and some outright invention, one contemporary acknowledging that while Eden certainly was highly strung, “…he seldom became angry when really important matters were involved, but instead did so over irritating trivialities, usually in his own home, and very seldom did he lose his temper in public”.  Unfortunately, the best-known "tantrum" story of the 1956 Suez Crisis in which Eden is alleged to have thrown an full inkwell at someone with whom he disagreed (a rubbish bin said to have been jammed on his head in response), is almost certainly apocryphal.