My youngest son asked for “catchup” the other day, and as I handed him the bottle of Heinz, I wondered where this odd word came from and what’s the right way to spell it? Catsup? Catchup? Ketchup?
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Ketchup \ˈke-chəp, ˈka-\ noun; a seasoned pureed condiment usually made from tomatoes
According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, “ketchup” might have come from the Malay word “kichap” or from the Chinese word “koechiap”; both describe a fish sauce. “Ketchup” first appeared in the U.S. around 1800. “Catsup” is probably an attempt to “English-ize” the word. The official spelling, according to the Grammarist and Merriam-Webster, is ketchup. Outside of the U.S., the condiment is referred to as “tomato sauce”.
Word Nerd Workout
How do you see ketchup used/ spelled most often? Can you share another interesting “Englishized” word?
Thanks for getting nerdy with me!
When I was a kid, I remember the bottles saying “catsup,” but we always pronounced it “ketchup.”
Possible Malay or Chinese origins? Huh, I didn’t know that. Thanks for the factoid!
I usually see “ketchup” more than “catsup,” but they are interchangeable to me. It’s a weird word, but there are so many in the English language, aren’t there?
So many…
I grew up calling it ketchup in Ontario Canada – and it’s still that out here on the east coast in Nova Scotia. I suppose we should have lots of “Englishized” words, given our British heritage but I can’t think of any.
I always knew ketchup, use it a lot.
So do my kids. We buy the giant bottles. 😉
When I was growing up in the 1940s we called it catsup – no h in the pronunciation. It wasn’t until I went off to college did I start hearing ketchup or, most often, catchup. I suspect the pronunciation in America was more a regional thing. As television went national lots of our language became “standardized.” It would be interesting to find an old bottle label from the 1930/40s.
It would be, and this is some pretty cool insight on pronunciation. Thanks Margot!
I always think of it as Ketchup in my mind, but I’ve seen catsup many times and thought it was maybe the more “formal” way of saying it.
Me too!
I think I generally see it spelled ketchup but always thought either spelling was acceptable. I can’t think of another “Englishisized” words now but maybe I will before the day’s out.