I consider myself to be a reasonable person. I do my laundry when the basket is full, turn in assignments on time, and check both ways before I cross the road. I also happen to enjoy some water ice during the summer months, and I had no idea that other people don’t know what that is.
This stemmed from earlier this semester when I was talking to my friends at dinner about what dessert we should get afterwards. I suggested that we get water ice, and they all looked at me like I had seventeen heads.
It took ten minutes of passionate explanation on my end about what water ice is and a lot of baffled responses from my friends until they finally understood what I was talking about. “Oh, you mean Italian Ice?” my friend exclaimed. Up until that point, they all thought, “Water ice is just regular ice, Julia…” like in the photo below.
But in my mind, water ice was this:
This experience of discovering that water ice is just a slang phrase used in the Philadelphia area and not actually a term that all people used was eye-opening. The conversation above consisted of people from Florida, Texas, Seattle, Michigan, and myself from South Jersey. We were all coming together in one place, at one university. We’re all different. And so is the food we grew up with. Here’s a list of the funniest food terminology discrepancies I’ve come across so far in college:
Food Terminology Differences
Water Ice – a type of sorbet or Italian ice used in the greater Philadelphia area. It’s really similar to Italian ice but has a slightly different consistency. **Disclaimer: this one can be especially confusing to non-Philly people.**
Sweet Peppers on Pizza – My friends and I were ordering pizza one night, and we asked for green peppers as a topping. The guy on the phone had to repeat what I asked for three times because he had never gotten that request. My one friend is from Connecticut, so she knew what I was talking about, but my other one is from Florida and hadn’t heard of this custom before.
Sprinkles vs Jimmies – I think this one is fairly obvious, but everyone has their own opinions on what they call this famed ice cream topping.
Sub vs Hoagie vs Grinder – I genuinely think Philly has it’s own terminology for everything because half of the things I say are not comprehended here at UF. This sub vs hoagie debate is another one of them.
Soda vs Pop – Before coming to UF, I had heard that some people in the country call soda “pop”, but I dismissed it with an eye roll. Then one day at college, one of my friends actually said pop in reference to soda, and I was shook.
Lollipop vs Sucker – Okay, I’ve still yet to hear someone use the term “sucker”, but I’m aware of its existence and have to acknowledge it on this list.
Iced-Down Conclusion
If you’re a college kid, ask your friends what they like to call certain foods! And listen for it in conversations; it can facilitate some entertaining table talk.