Monday, November 15, 2010

Word I Love: Crudités

There are certain words that I love to say. Some words just sound good rolling off your tongue.  Sometimes I like to feel smart incorporating them into a sentence because people will give you a quizzical look like, "Huh?" when you use it.  This is one of those words:

Crudités: (pronounced cru-da-tay)

Crudites are traditional French appetizers comprising sliced or whole raw vegetables which are dipped in a vinaigrette or another dipping sauce. Crudités often include celery sticks, carrot sticks, bell pepper strips, broccoli, cauliflower, and asparagus spears.

The French word "crudité", which designates uncooked vegetables, originates in much the same way as the English word "crude," from Latin. The Latin word "crūdus" simply means raw. Later, it was refined to "crūditās", which means "undigested food" and then on to "crudité" in French.

It just sounds better than saying carrot sticks and ranch are on the menu... I'm just sayin'.