View source for Potato (word)

''[[Potato]]'', which is the English term for ''[[Solanum tuberosum]]'', is a loanword ultimately from [[Cariban languages|Carib]]. It was first borrowed by the Spanish, who used the word ''patata'' to describe the root crop ''Ipomoea batatas'', or [[sweet potato]], which was introduced to Spain by [[Christopher Columbus|Columbus]] in [[1492]]. The sweet potato was known to the English herbalist Gerard as "the common [[Potato]]es" more than a century later, in 1597. [[Antoine-Augustin Parmentier]] (Montdidier August 12, 1737 – December 13, 1813) and [[Sir Walter Raleigh|Walter Raleigh]] are both remembered as vocal promoters of cultivating the potato as a food source (for humans) in Ireland, England, France, and throughout the rest of Europe.  There are over one hundred different types of potatoes all around the world.

The term was subsequently applied to other New World root and tuber crops, specifically to ''[[Solanum tuberosum]]'', called ''papa'' by [[Francisco Pizarro]] and [[Fernandez de Oviedo]], mistakenly referred to by Gerard as "Virginia Potatoes". In early references in English, the spelling with ''p'' introduced from the Spanish co-exists with a spelling with ''b'' closer to the original ''batata'': The ''indigenæ batatas appellant'' of [[Peter Martyr of Angleria]] (''Decades of Newe Worlde'' 2.9) is rendered as "whiche they caule Botatas" by his translator [[Richard Eden]] in 1555. [[John Frampton]] in 1577 has ''The Batatas [...] a common frute in those countries [...] a victaill of much substaunce'', while [[Benjamin Hawkins]] in 1565 has ''These potatoes be the most delicate rootes that may be eaten''.

In the 16th and 17th century, aphrodisiac qualities were ascribed to the root. Shakespeare's ''[[Merry Wives of Windsor]]'' (1623) has ''Let the skie raine Potatoes.''

==Dialect terms==
Common Dialect forms/pronunciations of ''potato'' include ''tater, tattie, práta'' (pl. ''rátaí'', Ir. Gaelic), and ''spud''.

Other colloquial variants/pronunciations include: (Scots/Irish) ''pitatie, pirtie, pirta, purta, purty, pitter, porie, pratie, praitie, prae, prata, prater, pritta, pritty, pruta, poota, totie, pitatie, tottie'' (''Concise Ulster Dictionary'').

''Taters'' is also [[rhyming slang]] for 'cold' (from 'potatoes in the mould').

Another use for the word is as a universal synonym, used mainly by the "Potatoists" from Boston, founded by Brendan Eappen. Interestingly, "Pickle" is the universal antonym according to these people.

==Spelling==
The singular spelling variants "potato" vs. "potatoe" co-existed into the 19th century.
In the 20th century "potato" came to be considered the correct singular, and "potatoe" considered a misspelling. The plural remains "potatoes'".{{Citation needed|date=September 2009}}

[[Vice President of the United States]] [[Dan Quayle#Vice Presidency|Dan Quayle]] became notoriously associated with this misspelling in a [[June 15]], [[1992]] incident. Quayle went to a [[photo op]] at Munoz Rivera School in [[Trenton, New Jersey]], where he was to officiate a spelling bee by drawing flash cards and asking students to write the words on the blackboard. Twelve-year-old William Figueroa wrote ''potato'', but Quayle prompted him to append an "e" which, according to Quayle's 1995 autobiography ''Standing Firm'', was the spelling on the flash card.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.capitalcentury.com/1992.html| title=1992: Gaffe with an 'e' at the end| first=Paul| last=Mickle| publisher=Capitalcentury.com| accessdate=2006-07-01}}</ref> This incident occurred even though Quayle had inquired about the validity of the incorrectly manufactured flash cards with event staff and had the tacit approval of the event's onlookers.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.rightgrrl.com/carolyn/potatoe.html| title=Dan Quayle and That Stupid Potato(e)| first=Carolyn| last=Gargaro| publisher=Rightgrrl.com| accessdate=2009-05-14}}</ref> The incident made national news in the [[United States]] and became a source of entertainment for the [[tabloid]] newspapers in the [[United Kingdom]]. For the [[June 25]], 1992 rerun of ''[[The Simpsons]]'' episode "[[Two Cars in Every Garage and Three Eyes on Every Fish]]", [[Bart Simpson]]'s opening [[chalkboard gag]] was hastily changed to read, "It's potato, not potatoe." This was also the cause of a ''[[Saturday Night Live]]'' episode "Mr. Casual Sex", in which [[Rob Schneider]] launches into a tirade against Quayle by saying that he is not qualified to discuss [[family values]] as he cannot properly spell potato.

==Trivia==
{{Trivia|date=September 2009}}
"Potato" is a catchword in the classic musical number "[[Let's Call The Whole Thing Off]]" written by [[George Gershwin|George]] and [[Ira Gershwin]] and performed by [[Fred Astaire]] and [[Ginger Rogers]] in the [[1937]] movie "[[Shall We Dance (film)|Shall We Dance]]". While the song makes fun of different (and valid) regional [[pronunciation]]s of English, the line "You say potayto, I say potahto" is in fact a joke, as the latter pronunciation is not used.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

The term "potatoes" is used in old-time, traditional American music, generally played on the fiddle (violin). This musical tradition is the foundation of modern bluegrass music, and is still played and studied by many amateur and professional musicians. The introduction to fiddle tunes can be a repeated one note pattern which sets the tempo and time signature, letting the other musicians know when to join in. This is referred to as "potatoes," as in, "who's going to play potatoes?" This is especially true of ensembles formed to accompany dances, generally contra and square dances.

The children's rhyme and [[counting-out game]] "One potato, Two potato" is first recorded in Canada in 1885.
miniclips.com
==See also==
{{Wiktionary|potato|tater}}
* [[Potato]]
* [[Old-time music]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:English spelling]]
[[Category:Potatoes]]
[[Category:English words and phrases of foreign origin]]