I don't know about other dialects, but I am aware of a peculiar difference between American and British English: in American English, "chips" are the thin things and the long things are called "fries," whereas in British English, "chips" are the long things and the thin things are called "crisps." To generalize this law into a theory, I propose a Processed Potato Snack Continuum, along which the two dialects are shifted by one unit relative to each other...
| Dialect | "Fries" | "Chips" | "Crisps" |
|---|---|---|---|
| American English | Unknown A | ||
| British English | Unknown B |
Our new theory of Processed Potato Snack Verbiage allows us to ask and investigate some quite fascinating questions. To start, what goes in the Unknown cells of that table? In other words: what would the Americans call a "crisp," and what would the British call a "fry?"
Discuss in the comments if you want to. I'm going to bed. I think hash browns or tater tots might fit into this somehow. Fundamentally, this is a question of what change to the food moving in a direction on the Continuum represents.
P.S. I'm happy to see that #196 is alive and shambling!
Image Credits:
| Dialect | "Fries" | "Hot Chips" | "Chips" | "Potato Chips" | "Crisps" |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian English | Unknown |

































