I'm a food-lover — notice how I didn't use that word here — but I'll be the first to admit that we lovers of all things delicious have adopted some prettyyyy weird (read: cringey) lingo. For the people that get annoyed when everything is a "copycat" this or "totally addictive" that, I feel you on a very deep level.
Recently, u/zzzzzzzzzra asked Redditors to share the "popular 'foodie' terms they find annoying," and let me tell ya...people reallyyy spoke their minds.
Just to say it: Even though I literally write about food for a living, I truly agree with the vast majority of these, so I'm very curious to see where you stand.
1. CRACK
"Every recipe on Pinterest: 'Tuna Casserole Crack!! My kids can't get enough!!!!'"
"TBH, it's really just code for 'contains a packet of ranch dressing mix.'"
"Yeah, as someone that recently stopped doing crack, I promise it's not as entertaining as you think it is."
2. SUPERFOOD
"The whole idea of 'superfoods' is toxic and reductive. It’s the reason culture gets fixated on singular savior-foods like kale or quinoa and we have to deal with them being in everything for years. No single food should be fetishized like that."
"Let’s be honest, an item typically becomes a 'superfood' once a white capitalist goes to the Global South and pulls a Columbus."
"Before kale became 'trendy,' the number one purchaser of kale in the United States was Pizza Hut — to decorate their pizza and salad bars. That's how little value it held before superfoods became all the rage."
3. FOODIE
"I had guests visiting and I ordered us all Indian takeaway (since our local place was honestly one of the best I've ever tasted). While eating, they discussed the food and shared their favorites, and it pleased me to see them enjoying it! Until they looked at me with zero irony and said..."
"'...Oh, sorry. We're foodies! We like to find new tastes and discuss them just for fun.' What did they think I'd done the multiple times I'd eaten from there before?! Just ram it into my mouth hole while sniffing detergent to block out the taste? Yeah, self-identifying as a 'foodie' makes me cringe at the soul level."
"The new guy at work asked me what I had for breakfast one day. I told him I made an omelette, and he responded with 'oh, you're a foodie too!'"
"Apparently the term has come to mean one who can make food from basic ingredients."
4. ARTISANAL
"I bought some 'artisanal blueberries' from Costco once (they didn't have any others). Turns out that 'artisanal' means 'has the dried blossoms and stems attached,' so...basically not as clean as non-artisanal blueberries."
"I shit you not, there's this hipster breakfast bistro in my town that used to sell wayyy overpriced artisanal breadcrumbs from their artisanal sourdough. Someone even created a satirical fan page of the product on social media."
5. BETTER-THAN-SEX
"I saw a story somewhere about a woman who sold Better-Than-Sex Banana Bread at her local farmer's market. One day, it was changed to Almost-Better-Than-Sex Banana Bread. Girl must've had QUITE the experience..."
"Ma'am, if that slice of chocolate cake is 'better than sex,' I am concerned that your needs are not being met."
6. UMAMI BOMB
"So many TV chefs and YouTube personalities use this term. You know, like 'I’m gonna drop an umami bomb and add some miso to this...'"
7. CLEAN-EATING
"'Clean' is a big one for me. I follow a few weight-loss motivation groups, including a couple of fitness-focused ones. I freaking hate when someone describes their diet as 'clean-eating.' It literally tells me nothing about what they're eating..."
"In bodybuilding/CrossFit groups, 'clean eating' seems to be ingrained into their lexicon. I can't stand it."
8. DUMP RECIPE
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"An ex back in the day couldn't stop raving about their Grandma's 'Dump Soup,' and could hardly wait for the day that I'd finally try it. Just the name alone turned me off to ever wanting to experience it."
9. SINFUL
"Any recipe trying to make you feel evil for eating a slice of cake is stupid as hell."
10. BONE BROTH
"Remember that trend where people called stock 'bone broth' for a while?"
"I've been making stock since I was a teenager. My daughter (who saw me make it often) tried to introduce me to 'bone broth' like it was some new and magical invention."
"My adult son was paying extra for cartons of 'bone broth,' insisting that it was 'soooo much healthier' than stock. I finally told him he needed to compare the bone broth label with the regular stuff. Guess who's buying normal stock now?"
11. RUSTIC
"It's code for 'sandwiched between a piece of ciabatta bread that's harder than a baseball.'"
"Rustic = 'I don't give a shit about presentation.'"
12. BETTER-THAN-TAKEOUT
"Of course the burger you spent $30 and four hours on is better than the Big Mac they slap together for $4."
"You read the recipe, and it's 'low-calorie and healthy,' 99% fat-free steak with broccoli in a ketchup sauce stir-fry. Better than takeout my ass."
13. NOM
"'Nom' and 'yummy' are both VERY high on my list of words that make my body retract into itself. I have no defense for this, but it absolutely is nails on the chalkboard for me."
14. UNCTUOUS
"It doesn't mean what people think it means. It used to be pejorative..."
"1. (of a person) excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily.
2. (chiefly of minerals) having a greasy or soapy feel."
15. DECONSTRUCTED
"Next thing you know, you'll have a restaurant charging $40 for a Deconstructed Caesar salad that's just a bowl of lettuce next to a bowl of croutons next to a block of whole Parmesan."
"Stop 'deconstructing' everything I eat. Just tell me you were too lazy to present a completed dish to me."
"One time, I saw Deconstructed Falafel. It was literally just a pile of chickpeas. I've never been so disappointed."
16. AIOLI
"Stop calling anything with a glop of mayo in it 'aioli'"
"I'm a sous chef at a local restaurant that has various 'aiolis' on the menu. What we've found is that you can put chipotle mayo on a menu and it'll do OK...call it aioli, though, and suddenly it's 'high class' and people want it on everything."
17. YUMMO
"Apparently, Rachel Ray saying that comes from her getting hate mail for saying 'yum, oh my god' on her first Food Network show. She started saying 'yum, oh...' remembering halfway through to censor herself and it kind of just stuck."
18. GRASS-FED
"Ok, I know that in America, most cattle are grain-fed...so it actually means something. But it's become pervasive in Europe, too, where almost all cattle are fed outside on grass! Like, it means nothing here."
19. GASTROPUB
"I love the idea of a gastropub. A place that serves high-quality pub grub with great service and a nice atmosphere is super appealing to me! Too bad most 'gastropubs' serve the same junk you can get anywhere...just on a square plate with truffle oil on the top."
"It just means you can get three tiny hamburgers for twice the cost of a normal one."
20. FOOD PORN
"Stop calling things 'food porn' on TV! Like, hey guys, I don't want to turn on TV and have some celebrity chef keep shouting 'porn' in front of my kids."
"God I hate the whole idea of food porn. Nothing makes me more uncomfortable than someone eating food and making pleasure noises like there's someone feeling them up under the table. Just say it's nice! Don't be weirdly sexual!!"
21. FUSION
"What they're really trying to say is: 'We took out the spices and added mayo.'"
"Hey, check out this new cafe! They serve burgers and fries...but with a retro 1950s Asian-French-American-Antarctican fusion flare. It's so amazing!"
22. HACK
"I can't stand 'hack' when it's literally just an alternative recipe to a popular dish...like 'ramen hack' 🙄"
"Ordering off of the 'secret menu' isn't a hack — you're just customizing a hamburger."
"When I worked at McDonald's, some people came in and tried to order off our 'secret menu.' It was confusing as hell because I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about — did they really think my 10-dollar-an-hour ass was privy to some sort of arcane knowledge?!"
23. HANDHELDS
"They're talking about sandwiches like they're a Game Boy. It's so weird."
24. MOUTHFEEL
"STOP SAYING MOUTHFEEL. It's literally called texture."
Are there any "foodie" terms that reaaaaally grind your gears? Drop 'em below.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
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