The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-03-09
WELSH RABBIT AND cATcHUP.
Fact and Speculation as to the Origin
of Two Disputed Names.


At a post theatrical luncheon the otnvf
night q discussion, characterize - q
W5fmtb which proved the sueletIt -
convection. arose over two Woros 49, 7
use is so common that they are pIooa9Ig
as often misSpOken as any IN the E.ilsi'sL
language. As usual, appeal was tdheu ~
the authorities. 10 the SatisidCtio.' -
some and amazement OF others anu VIZ
doubt OF a few. The words when mus
furnished food for argumentaIlNe iia- LIZ.
were "catchup' and welsh RABBIT j ne
discussion was By no means new N SUI
1ect or substance and is worthy o. cou!-
m6ut only because the persons VINO tooh
part in il represented in intelligence, cu4-
ture and Information a large class OF 50
cietv who would use only the pest Worus;
Some one had spoken Of catsup anu
was Immediately challenged. "Ketchup
always declared the cnaAeAsei-
A." Calcium preferred" cried another.
Z "Catsup' stood ground braveiy, when tuel
I was thTc WI on the fire by the lntegJSc-
| ton of Welsh rabbit as an example
I 90 Welsh rabbit is a corruption or WeisL
Tarebit was the vigorous assertion OF
an director It's d rare bit certainty
said another. And then SOMEBODY Sus-
gested the dictionaries. This is the
/ judgment they rendered on 'catchup vs.
! catsup:'
/ Three authorities unite in declaring
! preference to 'catchup-' me origin Oh
/ the word does away with the radical cor
] rectness OF ''catsup.' Like most sauces
/ catchuD owes its origin TO East lnGlah
/ astronomy. The original word IS XII
J Jap. The Standard dictionary says lHet
/ ''catchup' is preferable and adds: Writ
/ ten also 'catsup and 'ketchup. Ney-
/ ster gives preference -to. .caJchup VII
/ 'catSuD' second and ketcnup thlIu,
/ The Century declares for "catcnup ana
/ then "ketchup'' and adds: Written also
! 'catsup and 'batsUp. Three authorities:
/ therefore, unite in preferring 'catchup
/ as the proper form in best usage,
/ But welsh rabbit is little QlHeIehI-
/ Origin is the vital point here. Inc hlgh
| courts thus give judgment: The stan
dard' says that the word had q JoculaF
/ origin. like Munster ptumS hlnu OL
] scrapple and point out that the DER
/ ivauon from Tarebit' given by Grose and
other old dictionaries is now considered
[ erroneous" The Century IS far more
| emrhatic. 1t SAYS: "A term OF Jocular
/ oriEi1. formed after the fashion of NOT
/ folk capon, red herring. etc. Owing TO
/ an absurd notion that the "a oplt IN the
! phrase Is a corruption OF rare OF tds II
1 a rare bltD. the word Is often SO VII
/ ten webster" is q. little less POSITIVE.
] Probably a corruption of Welsh rare
bit but perhaps merely a humorous des-
ignatiOn."
1t is only fair to state, however, that
the best usage, which in the end deter
mines the form and correctness of speech
and writing favors welsh rabbit The
reason is obvious. Our language IS Iuil
Of terms. especially those WhIcn deslg-
nate articles of food, whose origin IS
precisely like that assigned by the zen
fury" dictionary to the words under con-
sideratiOn. ANY down-easter VIII tel you
that a Cape Cod turkey" has nothing 10
do with the gracious bird Of IhanksglV-
ing day, but is simply a humorous name
for a delicious dish composed of codnsn.
red beets. boiled potatoes and drawn
butter gravy Sometimes one hears II
applied to the Goldfish alone Along tne
/ same lines as yorkshire pudding Is no
/ pudding at all in our sense of the WOIu
ana a scotch woOdcock' is never
brought down by a gun.
/ For some unknown reason, perhaps on
account of a certain fOrgetfulness IN Inc
matter Of truces or promises in the OLD
DAYS of border fights, anything that was
particularly doubtful or ridiculous was
branded as Welsh" Tie Derivation OF
welsh rabbit follows obviously. VI
course. if may be a corruption OF rare
bits" but. as a thousand other delcacles
are lust as much rare bits why shOulc
this particular one be singled out as Q
welsh rare bit'2 Why should not tins
, noble plum pudding be an English TaI'
bit?" or the purely Yankee buckWnea
cakes a Yankee rare bit2' Rare blt
will probably be printed on restaurant
menus and used by persons VINO consider
, 4 IL a mark OF SUPERINTENDENT, but tn'
, real lover of honest old English WI. or
: der his Welsh rabbit with poldnes
and stranghtfOTwaTdness which come
I alone from knowledge of the rl0It-and
! ! truSty digestion.