Watch what you order

Rocky Mountain oysters aren’t what you think: Strange food names

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If "puppy chows" are not dog snacks, "duck sauce" contains no duck whatsoever, and "German Chocolate Cake" is reportedly Texan… who is handing out these misleading dish names? Decidedly, some of the terms on this list might make you check with the waiter before you place your order. Let’s explore the stories behind unexpected food labels!

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This might be good news: No ducks are harmed in the making of this popular takeout condiment! Duck sauce is a sweet-and-sour orange jelly often served with Chinese-American dishes.

It’s made from apricots, plums, or peaches, combined with sugar and vinegar. The name likely came about because it was invented as a match for crispy duck dishes in Chinese restaurants.

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English muffins look nothing like American muffins, do they? And, technically, they do not come from England either.

These breads were popularized in the US by Samuel Bath Thomas, a British immigrant who began selling his "toaster crumpets" in New York in the late 1800s. It was the American consumers who branded them as "English muffins."

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Did you know that German Chocolate Cake was actually popularized in… Texas? It did not come from Germany. The name refers to Samuel German, an American baker who created the delicious dark baking chocolate for Baker’s Chocolate Company.

In the 50s, a Texas homemaker later used his chocolate in a layered coconut-pecan cake recipe, and newspapers spread it with that name.

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There’s no duck in duck sauce, and there’s no rabbit in Welsh rabbits, or Welsh rarebit! It’s actually melted cheese sauce served on toasted bread. Sometimes it comes flavored with ale, mustard, or spices.

The term "Welsh rabbit" was a tongue-in-cheek jab, likely implying that cheese was the "poor man’s meat" in Wales.

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Definitely not oysters! There’s nothing oceanic about this dish. Rocky Mountain oysters are actually bull or sheep testicles, usually battered, deep-fried, and served as bar fare or at ranch festivals in the American West.

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Don’t expect poultry when you order this South Asian specialty! Bombay duck is actually a type of dried fish, locally known as "bombil," long eaten along India’s western coast.

Why the name, then? Some theorize that it derived from the mail system that transported this food, the ‘Bombay Dak’ (which translates to Bombay Mail).

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You may or may not know this, but some Midwestern states enjoy a homemade candy called "puppy chow." Contrary to what the name might imply, it is not meant for dogs!

They are usually made of cereal, chocolate, peanut butter, and powdered sugar. The same snack goes by other cute names, like "monkey munch" or "muddy buddies."

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No bread and not "sweet." This dish has a grossly misleading name. Sweetbreads are the thymus or pancreas glands of young animals, prized in French cuisine for their delicate, tender texture.

The "sweet" refers to their mild flavor compared to other organ meats, while "bread" may stem from an old English word for "flesh."

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It turns out, "Scotch egg" is not Scottish at all. Some place the origins in London, while others point to Indian dishes like kofta as possible inspirations.

The dish is a hard or soft-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat, breaded, and fried.

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We all know what French toast means, but, just like French fries, the origins are disputed! This classic breakfast recipe is far more ancient and pan-European than the name implies.

Versions of egg-soaked bread fried in fat go back to ancient Rome, and have popped up across Europe for centuries under names like pain perdu in France or arme ritter in Germany.

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Hearing "mincemeat," most people imagine ground beef. But this pie filling doesn’t always involve minced beef, as it once did.

Traditional mincemeat once did contain actual minced beef or mutton mixed with dried fruits, spices, and suet. Over time, many chose to drop the meat content, but the name stayed.

Go beyond red, green, and blue

Learn the names of 12 rarely-used but beautiful colors

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In this day and age, when you can ask for anything online as long as you can express it in words, it is important to be specific about what you are looking for. Colors are no exception. Take a look at the following 12: Did you know that any of these existed?

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The first entry on our list goes to this mustard-like yellow or yellow-orange color named after a gum resin of similar tone, extracted from a Cambodian tree. The word Gamboge itself comes from the Modern Latin cambogium, which is the Latin version of the place name Cambodia.

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The name itself is very evocative of its nature, as it makes us think of the deep blue seas. But the ultramarine color’s name comes from the Medieval Latin word that means "beyond the sea" because the pigment employed to make this dye, called lapis lazuli, was imported to Europe from Asia.

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If you are looking for a purplish-red tone, the Tyrian purple might be just what you need. This particular color was highly valued during the Byzantine Empire, in part because of how difficult it was to obtain. The base to create this shade of purple was in the secretions of a predatory sea snail. Definitely not an easy task if you need a lot of pigment.

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The second unusual blue tone in our list, cerulean, can also be called a "deep blue", but you’ll find it if you look up, as it is described as "sky blue." The word "cerulean" comes from the Latin caeruleus, meaning "dark blue."

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The word brings to mind a mixture of beige and grey, and that is no mistake. The color is much older than one would expect, with references to it in the English language going back as far as 1925.

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While citric fruits include other colors, like orange, the word citreous refers specifically to a "greenish-yellow" color associated with lemons and limes.

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Which word would you use to describe the color of a sunset? Orange? Red? There is a word for such a color, and it is ponceau. It is described as "a vivid reddish-orange color."

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The word puce means "flea" in French. And, yes, the puce color is a dark or brownish purple, not unlike the color of a flea. Perhaps not the most enticing or flattering color name but still, a unique color nonetheless.

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Another color name that comes from Latin, atrovirens is also the name of a coniferous tree. It refers to a dark green or a deep teal, not unlike the one found in these types of pyramid-shaped trees.

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Most people are used to saying "flesh color" when it comes to describing a color that is similar to a pale skin tone, but there is a more accurate word for it: sarcoline.

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A word that is seldom used these days but that describes a much-used color, even if it's named differently. Eburnean is something that is ivory in color. This off-white color is created by adding a touch of yellow to white.

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A color that everybody thought already existed until they saw it, Vantablack is one of the closest colors to black… without being solid black. Vantablack pigment is the darkest man-made substance in the world because it absorbs almost all visible light.