12). As an accompaniment to the above, the feeding practices and preferences of assorted vores, trophs, and phages across the natural world are also classified (Chapter 13).
Our subsequent courses enjoin you, dear reader, to Whet Your Appetite. Moving swiftly from feast to fast to famine, Chapter 14 expresses the lexicon of gluttony and excess, Chapter 15 explores the idiom of aversion and disgust, while Chapter 16 outlines the language of hunger and want.
The penultimate section, Catering for Every Taste, looks at the vocabulary of provisioning and purveying—covering the retail and restaurant trades, merchants and markets, food stores and eating establishments (Chapter 17)—before kitting out the kitchen and setting the table, checklisting the profusion of utensils and utilities used internationally in the several acts of cooking, serving, and eating (Chapter 18).
We round our wordfest off with an invitation to Come Dine with Me. Here, we take an all-inclusive lexical tour of dinners, the fine dining experience, and finally diners themselves. Chapter 19 dishes up a gallimaufry of meals and mealtimes, light bites and courses, and occasions for feeding and feasting. Chapter 20 embraces eating matters and manners and all things epicurean—encompassing the faculty of (good) taste, the gratifications of gastronomy, and popular food philias and phobias. In closing, in Chapter 21 we consider ourselves: presenting a veritable thesaurus of trencher folk of every stripe—gourmets and gourmandisers, foodists and faddists, buzguts and belly-gods all.
All entries have been carefully selected from the most exhaustive unabridged dictionaries and extensive word troves available, as well as a wide range of specialist resources and learned monographs in both print and digital formats.
There is no scholarly apparatus—parts of speech, variant spellings, etymologies or phonetics—to burden the text. The entries are defined in the compiler’s own words with economy of expression and ease of comprehension foremost in mind, seasoned with the occasional dash of wit. Any errors are his and his alone; in keeping with the spirit of the book, he humbly pledges to eat his own words in such event.
So, why not expand your vocabulary and not your waistline by taking a hearty bite from Eat Your Words: The Definitive Dictionary for the Discerning Diner.
Bon appétit.
Paul Convery, Glasgow, September 2019
Food, Glorious Food
Foodstuffs: Classes and Categories
“There is no love sincerer than the love of food.”
—George Bernard Shaw
acates * bought-in food, especially fresh or luxury provisions; catering supplies
acetaria * salad plants and vegetables, considered collectively
adipsa * foods which do not produce thirst following their consumption
aliment * food formally considered as sustenance and nourishment for the body
alternative protein * substitute meat or dairy products developed in the laboratory
ambient food * goods which retain their freshness when stored at room temperature
ambrosia * the food of the Olympian gods; to mere mortals, a bite of heavenly taste
analects * dropped or discarded morsels of food; figuratively, crumbs of wisdom
appast * an archaic generic term for food, in the sense of one’s “daily bread”
assature * roasted food, especially meat
bag & bottle * food and drink, informally
bakemeat * baked food, notably pastries and pies
beefmeat * bureaucratese for the flesh of cattle, as foodstuff and agricultural product
belly-timber * grub for one’s gut
bioengineered food * edible produce from natural organisms, either flora or fauna, that have undergone genetic manipulation in some form
bite & sup * something to eat
blubber-totum * food no better than thin gruel, as too watery soup or weak stew
bolus * a ball of soft, chewed food matter just prior to swallowing and digestion
breadkind * vegetables with a high starch content, such as yams and sweet potatoes
breadstuff * baked goods collectively; also, constituent items for baking such as flour
broma * an obsolete medical term for convalescent fare better chewed than supped
buckone * a mere morsel or mouthful of food
bullamacow * tinned or canned meat; also, cattle or livestock, in South Seas pidgin
bushfood * any traditional Australian Aboriginal dietary staple, normally eaten raw
bushmeat * any African wild animal hunted for food, or the flesh therefrom
butchermeat * the flesh of domesticated animals slaughtered for the table as traditionally sold by butchers, viz beef, lamb, veal, mutton, and pork
cackling-farts * eggs, in the colourful language of the erstwhile “canting crew”
cag-mag * unwholesome, spoiled, or downright bad food of any kind
calavance * edible beans, generically considered; by extension, food made from same
carbonado * grilled or barbecued food
carnish * meat, being the flesh of any animal used as food
cassan * cheese, in the vernacular of yesteryear
cerealia * cereal foods, such as corn, collectively
cetaries * a neglected synonym for seafood, being victuals sourced from open waters
champignon * a catch-all culinary term for mushrooms, notably as a delicacy food
chankings * food matter that has been chewed and subsequently spat out—olive pits, fruit stones, gristle, and the like
charcuterie * cold pork cuts as a class of meat product: includes ham, bacon, and pâté
chazerai * any truly awful food or dish; more strictly, non-kosher fare
cheeseparing * a miserly sliver or miserable scrap of food
cherishment
