Comments | little_details: "Fast Food"

the_jester1 in little_details

"Fast Food"

Mar 31, 2007 11:00

Scene: New York during the Second World War ( Read more... )

Comments 19

curtana March 31 2007, 01:59:16 UTC

The OED gives its first citation for 'fast food' as 1951, whereas it has citations for 'take-out' dating from 1941. I think you would be on safer ground using the second term.

the_jester1 March 31 2007, 03:05:31 UTC

Thank you. My novel is set in 1943 so I agree that "take-out" would be a safer bet.

dynapink March 31 2007, 02:22:22 UTC

You might also consider using "diner fare" in places. I realise it's not really a diner, but in the early days of fast-food places diners were still the norm and the term carried over a bit. From everything I've read and heard, it seemed to have just about the same kind of connotation as "fast food".

the_jester1 March 31 2007, 03:03:23 UTC

Thanks.

slightlywee March 31 2007, 02:39:19 UTC

Just for the whole topic, I'd recommend Fast Food Nation, which describes American fast food franchises from their inception in some year that I forget, and the language used to describe them, their interaction with the culture, details, etc. etc. I bet it'd be helpful for a lot of background information.

the_jester1 March 31 2007, 03:02:13 UTC

Thanks. Is that a book, a documentary or a website?

tallycola March 31 2007, 03:11:04 UTC

It's a book.

slightlywee March 31 2007, 03:14:49 UTC

Heh, yeah. That information is relevant. There's a movie, but I mean the book. It's nonfiction -- a little like The Jungle for our times.

grace_om March 31 2007, 04:02:10 UTC

My mother, who comes from the mid-west and was a teen/young adult in the 1940's, used to refer to such places as a "greasy spoon"

the_jester1 April 1 2007, 06:57:57 UTC

Hey, that's a good one! Thanks.

beanarie March 31 2007, 06:34:38 UTC

Slightly random, but this might help. When people refer to the tri-state area, that's actually New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

the_jester1 April 1 2007, 05:23:35 UTC

My bad. I'm not from America, but yeah, I could have sworn it was New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. I thought Connecticut was a New England state, and I'm pretty sure Pennsylvania is not a Southern state. However, not being American and having not topped Geography in school I defer to you on this point.

beanarie April 1 2007, 05:57:19 UTC

No, it's totally understandable. I only brought it up to keep it from possibly biting you in the butt later. Connecticut is part of New England and Pennsylvania is a Mid-Atlantic state like New York and New Jersey. The tri-state area isn't about those set regions, though. It's just that those three states are geographically very close to each other.

the_jester1 April 1 2007, 07:00:04 UTC

Oh, that's where I got confused. I meant Mid-Atlantic but I got it confused with tri-state. Thanks for the heads-up :-)

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