Word question? Seriously!?

Question

When I was a wee sprog and not playing sports or reading books I loved to read comics eg Superman etc etc from the late 50's-early 60's and whenever Clark was sitting in a booth or cafe with Lois or Jimmy,there was always a bottle of 'catsup' on the table...Where did this come from..as I now know this is called 'ketchup'..We call it tomato sauce or 'dead horse'..Can anybody enlighten me please..'catsup' ?

Answer 1

The word entered the English language in England during the late seventeenth century, appearing in print as catchup and later as ketchup

The spelling catsup seems to have appeared first from the pen of Jonathan Swift, in 1730.

Ketchup (or less commonly catsup) also known as Tomato Ketchup, Red Sauce, or Tomato Sauce is a condiment, usually made with ripened tomatoes. The basic ingredients in modern ketchup are tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Onions, celery, and other vegetables are frequent additions.

Ketchup started out as a general term for sauce, typically made of mushrooms or fish brine with herbs and spices. Mushroom ketchup is still available in some countries, such as the UK. Some popular early main ingredients include blueberry, anchovy, oyster, lobster, walnut, kidney bean, cucumber, cranberry, lemon, celery and grape.

The Webster's Dictionary of 1913 defined "catchup" as a "table sauce made from mushrooms, tomatoes, walnuts, etc. [Written also ketchup]."

Answer 2

They are interchangeable.

I have read a lot of different stories about the origin of the word. Most of them involve Asia, and a condiment made from briny or pickled fish. It was a sauce that was taken back to England by traders. If memory serves, the transliteration of the Asian word was kitchap. An English writer, and I am sorry to say I don't remember whom, wrote it as ketchup. My guess is it was Swift, because that's the only writer I can think of who would have had reason to mention a condiment (his famous essay on eating children to control the population), but that's just a shot in the dark, as I dislike researching answers.

Here in the US, Heinz uses the word ketchup, but a lot of smaller brands still call it catsup. A great many older cookbooks still call it catsup, as well. I see it spelled both ways on a regular basis.

Because it's a word borrowed from Asia, there would not have been a definitive spelling of it. The people who brought the sauce and the word home would have used whatever seemed reasonable to them to try and capture the way it is said in Asia, which explains why there are two different spellings in use today.

Answer 3

The spelling catsup seems to have appeared first from the pen of Jonathan Swift, in 1730.

Ketchup (or less commonly catsup) also known as Tomato Ketchup, Red Sauce, or Tomato Sauce is a condiment, usually made with ripened tomatoes. The basic ingredients in modern ketchup are tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Onions, celery, and other vegetables are frequent additions.

Ketchup started out as a general term for sauce, typically made of mushrooms or fish brine with herbs and spices. Mushroom ketchup is still available in some countries, such as the UK. Some popular early main ingredients include blueberry, anchovy, oyster, lobster, walnut, kidney bean, cucumber, cranberry, lemon, celery and grape.

Ketchup originated in Eastern Asia as a fish sauce, long before anyone outside the Americas had ever seen a tomato. The word "ketchup" is used in Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian (e.g., kecap manis - traditional spelling kitjap manis). English and Dutch sailors brought the Asian ketchup to Europe, where many flavourings, such as mushrooms, anchovies and nuts, were added to the basic fish sauce. It is not certain when and where ketchup first came to be made from tomatoes.


The most popular theory of the word's origin is that it derives from one of two words from the Fujian region of coastal southern China: "kôe-chiap" (in the Xiamen accent) or "kê-chiap" (in the Zhangzhou accent). Both of these words come from the Amoy dialect of China, where it meant the brine of pickled fish or shellfish.[7] Some people prefer the Malayan word "kechap" (spelled "ketjap" by the Dutch), which may have come from the Chinese in the first place (see: Penang Hokkien). The Malay word means "taste." And in sometime in the late 17th century, the name and some samples might have arrived in England where it appeared in print as "catchup" in 1690 and then as "ketchup" in 1711. These names stuck with the British, who quickly appropriated them for their own pickled condiments of anchovies or oysters.

Answer 4

English, as a living language, changes colloquially with time and with region. "Castup" and "Ketchup" are just two interchangeable terms. Just like someone might put "Tomato Sauce" on their pasta, in South Philadelphia the same stuff is called "Red Gravy."

I can recommend a great (but hard to find) video called "American Tongues." It has tons of these wonderful little differences.

Answer 5

In Canada the brand 'Hunts' was always spelled 'Catsup' for years, though now I think they're spelling it 'Ketchup'.
Heinz has always termed it as 'Ketchup'. Some manufacturers called it 'Catchup' as well.
The spelling varied in North America depending on where you lived. Many areas in the US called it 'Catsup' as well.

This should answer all of your questions regarding this gourmet condiment:
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Cafe/5536/ketchup.html

Answer 6

Catsup means variant of Ketchup

http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/c/c0167800.html

Answer 7

The word can be spelled both ways. Seriously.

Answer 8

Damnit, you wrote "seriously" on your title. Quack.