Britain vs America: Vegetable Edition!

Stop the vegan propaganda!

There are many differences between British and American English (not only in the pronunciation) when it comes to calling veggies in the UK and the US. So here are the most common ones. 

That one is easy, right? Potato and potato, what's the difference? The pronunciation. The British pronounce "potato" /pəˈteɪtəʊ/ : The British Potato
and the Americans - /pəˈteɪtoʊ/ or /pəˈteɪtə/ : The American Potato

The same goes for tomato:

British English: /təˈmɑːtəʊ/ Tomato UK
American English: [tʰəˈmeɪɾə] Tomato US

Now, that we have those two out of the way, it's time to talk about the fun ones (and by the fun ones I mean those that you're most likely to google at the dinner table....). Let's get started!

Zucchini vs Courgette

Zucchini (as the Americans call it) or Courgette (as the British refer to this vegetable) is a squash that originally came from Central and South America but eventually made its way to Europe by the end of the 15th century. Between 1880 and 1920 Italian immigrants settling in America brought the word "zucchini" with them and it basically stuck. 

"Courgette" is actually a far more recent and only entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1931. It's taken from the French word (cue the pretentious French accent) "courgette".

TRIVIA TIME! If you know the Katy Perry song "California Gurls", Snoop Dog uses "zucchinis" to rhyme with "bikinis", "martinis", and "weenies". I wonder if "courgette" would've worked as well...

Eggplant vs Aubergine

What the Americans call "eggplant" the Brits call "aubergine", which they adopted from the French word (cue the pretentious French accent) "aubergine". I'm starting to see a pattern here... 

Anyway, the US term "eggplant" is named after the white and yellow version of the vegetable, which kind of resembles a goose egg...

Look at those adorable little green hats! 

TRIVIA TIME! Eggplant - or aubergine - emojis have hit the headlines some time ago as some people have been using them in a rather explicit manner on social media, leading to them being banned on Instagram. 

Arugula vs Rocket

Rocket sounds as if it was given this awesome sounding name to encourage vegetable-averse kids to eat their greens. Sadly, it isn't how it got such a cool name. Long before the word "rocket" was even used to refer to cone-shaped flying objects and/or fireworks, the Brits simply borrowed the French (of course) word (cue the pretentious French accent) "roquette" and decided somewhere along the way that "qu" in the middle is too French for their liking and made it less fancy by replacing it with "ck" instead. 

In America, Italian immigrants brought the word "rucola" with them, and it eventually evolved into "arugula".   

Rutabaga vs Swede

Rutabaga sounds like such a fun and quirky word, good for a name for a witch from a fairytale or for a mother-in-law... Oh, wait, it's the same thing! The vegetable, though, is a cross between a cabbage and a turnip. This type of squash was found to be growing wild in Sweden and that's why it was originally called "Swedish turnip", but this seems to have been shortened to "Swede" in the UK. "Rutabaga" also has Swedish roots. It comes from the Swedish term "rotabagge" meaning "root bag". 

Scallion vs Spring Onion

Scallion and Spring Onion. They may look the same at the first glance, but actually, there is a difference between them and it's all to do with the bulb. Scallions are straight and never grow a bulb at the end, whereas spring onions do. 

In the UK, the generally used term is "spring onion" to include both scallion and spring onion as well. In Northern Ireland, however, they prefer the term "scallion", just as they do in the US. 

Cilantro vs Coriander

Aka Parsley Wanna-be

This is another example of the Brits being lazy and adopting a French word, in this case (cue the pretentious French accent) "coriandre". The Americans being equally lazy adopted the Spanish word "cilantro". The British use the word "coriander" when referring to the stalks, leaves, and the seeds of the plant; but in America, "cilantro" is used just for the leafy part and "coriander" is used to just for seeds. 

Beets vs Beetroot

No, not those!

Ah, yes, much better! 
Beetroot comes from a Latin name "Beta Vulgaris" but in the US is known simply as "beets" because all Americans are generally super-busy and this one more syllable takes so much time to pronounce... 

And now you know some basic differences between vegetable names in British Englis and American English and you won't get confused during dinner! Also, remember not to overuse the eggplant emoji...
You're welcome!