Why do we say Tuna Fish? Is there a Tuna Beef? Tuna Chicken? Tuna Pork?

[RushIsRot]

EMWTK

[In_The_Wind]

1. Tuna Casserole

[pinboy3niner]

5. Tuna salad

And the Sopranos episode: "Bone for Tuna."

[Smarmie Doofus]

2. To distinguish it from the old Jefferson Airplane spinoff:

Hot Tuna ( fish) ?

Seriously... it's a good question.

[bluesbassman]

11. To distinguish it from a piano of course, because as we all know...

You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.

[BlueJazz]

17. I tried to tune one to the key of Sea...but just got it all pissed off at me.

[Chan790]

3. Marketing.

"Tuna Fish" was determined to have more appeal in a Star-Kist ad campaign than "Tuna Salad" (Tuna salad suggests a scoop of tuna fish over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes and onions)...they're not trying to differentiate between tuna and other meats ("Tuna Beef, Tuna Chicken, Tuna Pork&quot ; they're differentiating between different preparations: Tuna Steaks, Tuna Cake, Tuna Casserole, etc.

[A Simple Game]

4. Right now I have

Holstein beef and Jersey beef in my freezer. There is Angus beef and Herford beef. There is also veal. Some even make a distinction between steer, bull, and heifer beef. There are also several varieties of cloven hoofed animals, deer, antelope, goat, sheep, etc.

Besides commercial hogs there are several types of heritage hogs, both boar and sow.

There are chickens (many varieties), geese, ducks, turkeys, partridge, pheasant, doves, quail...

So is the distinction between a tuna and a cod any different than the distinction between a cow and a deer?

I think you may have the idea now.

[RushIsRot]

6. Perhaps it is a regional distinction, but I have almost always heard "fish"

attached to the word "tuna" whenever this particular foodstuff was mentioned. YMMV - One exception I can readily think of might be Tuna-Noodle Casserole.

[pipi_k]

7. Two more...

Why do we call it an ATM machine

And a PIN number...

[RushIsRot]

8. Obviously required by the Department of Redundant Redundancies.

[Wounded Bear]

15. I thought it was the Department of Redundancy Department...

Geez, now I have to change my contacts list.....again.

[bluesbassman]

12. Here's another: RPMs

It is "Revolutions Per Minute". Adding the "s" makes it "Revolutions Per Minutes" which makes my brain hurt.

[Marie Marie]

24. How about this:

Is it a Hot Water Heater or a Water Heater? My co-workers and I carried on this argument for about a week.

[Art_from_Ark]

35. How about a "hot water heater"?

Does it heat hot water to make it cold? Or does it heat water that is already hot?

[mockmonkey]

9. It should actually be

Tuna Dolphin.

[RushIsRot]

10. Dolphins are mammals.

[mockmonkey]

14. The net doesn't care! n/t

[Wounded Bear]

16. A camel is always a mammal....

but a mammal is not always a camel...

[RushIsRot]

19. Showing my advanced age: I'd walk a mile for a Camel.

[Art_from_Ark]

36. The guy in those Camel commercials had pretty lousy shoes

if all it took was walking one lousy mile to make a hole in the soles

[DFW]

13. I think it is just a holdover from the German

In German, they never say "Thun," but rather "Thunfisch," and I think that's where our word for it came from.

It's pretty much the same in the Germanic and Latin languages, and it sounds like a linguistic hand-me-down.

Most fish names in German have two or three syllables, which may be why they say "Thunfisch." It could be for no other reason than keeping the cadence of the language going in conversation. "Cod," for example, is "kabeljau," which is similar to the French "Cabillaud." Curiously, the only widely eaten fish that the Germans are comfortable with using one syllable is one where English and the Frensh use a two-syllable word. "Salmon (saumon in French)" is "Lachs" in German (morphed into "lox" for New York Delis).

[retread]

18. Tune a piano. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

26. You'd have to shell out to the tuna $250,000 for a Rolls Royce. nt

[retread]

30. Then you would have sole ownership. n/t

[pinboy3niner]

40. Me and my loan shark

[retread]

44. If you work for scale.

[pinboy3niner]

45. I cod do that, though I'd like to Mako even Moray

[Arugula Latte]

20. I know! What's the deal with that?

[Solly Mack]

21. When say "Tuna Fish" around the house when discussions are becoming too heated.

Someone says it and the other knows it is time to check our reactions.

Works especially well when the family gathers.

A shared joke, of sorts, that has prevented full scale family gathering blow outs.

You hear "Tuna Fish", you immediately disengage.

[Graybeard]

22. We also always say, "cod fish".

Are there others?

[UTUSN]

23. You beat me to it n/t

[azurnoir]

25. well that could be

to distinguish it from the 'cod piece' which is something quite different

[Art_from_Ark]

37. Because Mary Poppins used the term?

"Michael! Don't stand there with your mouth open looking like a codfish!"

[bluesbassman]

27. It's always a good idea to identify a Blow Fish by it's full name. Just saying "Blow"...

could get one in a heap of trouble in certain situations.

[Demoiselle]

28. I wonder why we don't say:

Beef Cow. Chicken Poultry...Pork Pig.
Oh never mind.

[Art_from_Ark]

38. There is actually the term "beef cow"

to distinguish it from "dairy cow".

[Demoiselle]

43. You're right, of course. But it doesn't show up in the meat case at the supermarket.

[alarimer]

29. Tuna fish is the chicken of the sea.

I hope that clears things up.

[struggle4progress]

31. Yeah. Ya can tuna piano. But how do ya tuna fish? Huh?

[warrprayer]

32. you can't tuna fish!

too many scales!!!

[struggle4progress]

33. Well, that's what I say next time I'm not and somebody sez "Water ya waitin for?"

[warrprayer]

34. lulz n/t

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

41. Like this ...

[kentauros]

39. Why do people say "chai tea"? Or "ATM machine"?

[Recursion]

42. I always associated it with the German word "Thunfische"

which is just the name for the fish. I figured it was an import from German. No actual evidence for that, though.