Re: CHAT: F.L.O.E.S.

Steg Belsky wrote:

> On Wednesday, February 25, 2004, at 12:57  AM, John Cowan wrote:
>
>> And Rosta scripsit:
>>
>>> Alternatively, it could, as you suggest, be
>>> taken from AmE, but this seems unlikely, since pasta must
>>> have become a feature of quotidian Australian life a bit
>>> earlier than hearing AmE (on telly etc.) did.
>>
>>
>> Distinguish between pasta and the word "pasta".  When I was a
>> kid, I knew spaghetti and ravioli, but had no generic term;
>> thirty years later, "pasta" is in every kid's vocabulary.
>> --
>> A mosquito cried out in his pain,               John Cowan
>>
>
> Growing up, my generic term was "macaroni".  Unfortunately, i have
> since partially given in to years of pressure from friends who said
> "no, 'macaroni' is the elbow-shaped kind ('elbow macaroni' to me), the
> generic term is 'pasta'!".  Even though every box of macaroni/pasta
> i've ever seen (in whatever shape) says something like "an enriched
> *macaroni* product" on it, and not "...*pasta*...".


Generally, to me, both pasta and pacaroni can describe generic
pasta(though I will only use 'pasta').  If someone said 'we're having
macaroni' and served me fusilli, I would not be in the least surprised.
Of course, spaghetti(And tagliatelli, etc.), lasagna, and ravioli are
not macaroni, in any way.  And 'elbow macaroni' is not in my vocabulary.