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Yep, the article should be explicit about that. Calling American-Italian food "Italian" is incorrect, but also incredibly parochial.
by sklivvz1971 10y ago
Yep, the article should be explicit about that. Calling American-Italian food "Italian" is incorrect, but also incredibly parochial.
- Spooky23 10y agoIt's a regional news outlet, writing an article about regional businesses. There is literally nobody within 300 miles of Newark (a region of about 100M people) interested in the topic who doesn't know what they are referring to. Calling anything "Italian" would be equally parochial, as Naples, Milan, Sicily, etc have broad differences in cuisine and culture.
- finid 10y agoThis is actually the common usage. I've never heard anybody say they're going out to an American-Italian restaurant. Along the same lines, when I tell my friends that I'm going to a Chinese restaurant, they know exactly what I mean. And no, it doesn't mean I'm taking the next flight out to Shanghai to eat.
- jameshart 10y agoThe common usage in america. It may come as a shock to you, but there are also Italian restaurants in other countries - not just Italy and America.
- vostok 10y agoThe same pattern is observed in other countries. In India, a Chinese restaurant will typically serve Indian Chinese cuisine rather than Chinese cuisine as it is eaten in China.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- finid 10y agoYes, the common usage in America, because the article is about Italian restaurants in an American city.
- emodendroket 10y agoDo you think somebody reading nj.com is really likely to be confused about what country the restaurants being discussed are in? This is like complaining about a US newscast referring to "our nation's capital" because every country has a different capital.
- galago 10y agoI live in the Boston area and I most definitely say "Chinese-American" when discussing potential restaurants. For example if my friend asked about Mary Chung's in Cambridge, that's Chinese-American, where as the Shanghai Gate in Alston is Shanghainese. Of course I don't always know. I also would refer to pizza/sub shops that are everywhere around here as Italian-American if someone asked, as opposed to the upscale places in the North End. I may be wrong about my labels, but I do use them.
- emodendroket 10y agoIf I want to make this distinction I usually use the term "Chinese takeout."
- emodendroket 10y agoNo, not really. The audience is American, the author is American; nobody is confused about what is meant.
- lacampbell 10y agoI find a lot of Europeans - particularly Irish - to get unduly upset when Americans use the term "Irish" to mean "Irish American". Sometimes it gets downright childish, ie "you're not really Irish we are!". People should pick up on the context a bit.
- k-mcgrady 10y ago9/10 they aren't using it to mean 'Irish American' though. Many, many Americans I know and have met claim to be 'Irish' despite they and their parents never having set foot in the place and they genuinely mean they are of Irish nationality. Sure it can be used as shorthand for 'Irish American' but that's generally not what is meant (in my experience). Ireland's diaspora is more than 10x the country's population so it's definitely not something we rebel against or dislike. There are LOTS of people abroad who can rightly claim to be Irish. When you claim it with virtually no actual ties to the country mainly so you can try to claim some stereotype it's irritating. Irish people are generally pretty proud of our American links and contributions. "you're not really Irish we are!" is not a thing.
- lacampbell 10y agoOf course they mean Irish American. What else could they mean? I don't think the Irish (in Ireland) are even on the radar. There's a real misunderstanding Europeans have of the European diaspora in general - they think they can understand it in the context of still being in Europe, but you can't.