People are confused over what Aussies call food favourite

What do you call them? Because many are genuinely puzzled about how we tell the difference between them. 

Nothing gets people excited quite like food. It's the universal gateway to happiness. But what is not quite 'universal' is the way we Aussies call certain edible favourites. 

 

One very confused traveller recently hit Reddit about a question that was genuinely concerning them. 

"French fries are chips, then what do Aussies call potato chips?" they asked in the 'Ask An Australian' thread. 

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French fries, chips, crisps, hot chippies...?

The poster went on to explain their query further by asking if "chips" refers to anything "deep fried" or just "French fries". 

"If all are chips, don't people often get confused [about] whether they want fries or potato chips?"

*sigh* You know, sometimes it's just so hard trying to explain how Australians think.

Locals didn't hesitate to clarify in the comments, and the bad news for the original poster is that none of the responses really answered their question. 

"We call fries chips, chips we call chips, and crisp we call chips, we also call chips, chips too though," one person wrote. "Sometimes on special occasions we will call chips chippys but other times just chips." 

Hot chips vs bag of chips. Image: iStock / Supplied

For those not born and bred Down Under, this response might be a tad confusing, but for those who were it's hilariously amusing in the best time-wasting way.

"They’re chips and chips. We don’t get confused because you don’t usually get both options depending on where you go," another person added, clarifying: "Chicken/fish and chips shops don’t usually sell chips in a bag, and supermarkets don’t usually have hot chips, calling them hot chips is about as far as we go, but I only called them that so you wouldn’t get confused."

Another person chimed in with: "They’re all chips and everyone knows what we mean when we ask for chips."

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What do you call them? 

Moving the conversation away from Reddit, I took the question to the streets and asked a few Aussies in my inner circle what they call each one of the edible favourites. 

For Cassidy and Nama, the answer was a simple one: "They're both chips."

Emily and Loz said it was much the same, but having little ones at home meant that the hot variety was referred to as "Hot chippies" instead of "Hot chips". You know, just to make it even more confusing. 

Kidspot Kitchen editor, AKA the oracle for anything food related, says she does follow a general rule.

"Hot chips, packet of chips," she says. "I think it depends where you get the 'hot chips' from. If it's fast food, I'd probably say 'fries' but at a corner takeaway I'd say 'hot chips'.

Sadly, even with all the comments in the post and clarification in real life, Clara, who originates from the USA, says she's with the original poster and claims Aussies are genuinely confusing.

"They are French fries and chips," she insists. 

Originally published as People are confused over what Aussies call food favourite