50 Annoying ‘Foodie’ Terms That Nobody Should Use, According To People In This Viral Thread

Pie artist Jessica, @thepieous, shed some light on food terms that get overused. "Language evolves. Trendy terms and neologisms (like 'Foodie') are subject to an even faster evolution… It seems invariably with any trend connected to new language use, we go through the same stages."

According to her, everything starts with relative obscurity where "only a few niche initiates are familiar with the new meaning of the term." Then, we move on to the so-called mainstream breakthrough, "usually connected to a trendy journalist breaking the story and introducing the term to a wide audience." Inevitably, this is followed by the 'corporate co-opting' of the term and, then, by "public rejection of the term by a population sickened by the new corporate connotation."

Jessica told Bored Panda that "it’s the path from 'refreshing authenticity' to 'cringe-inducing inauthenticity' that all trends must walk… and trendy food terms do not get a pass." Since people crave novelty, "when a famous chef, food journalist, or other notable personality in the space serves us up a new term that paints a new picture, a new way of looking at or thinking of the same old same old, well, we’re all over that!"

The term goes viral and "suddenly everything is about 'artisanal small batches' or 'deconstructed mouthfeel' for a few months. But sooner or later, the people tasked with creating new content/products for us to purchase take note of the trend and jump on board—oftentimes changing the original meaning of the term in the process," Jessica said, giving an example of how even McDonald's tried to present its coffee as artisanal.

"Sometimes the concepts behind the trendy terms have legs that outlive the co-option of the term itself. Look at the word 'artisanal'—even though this term is sooo played right now, we still actually do really like the idea of small batch, locally sourced, hand-crafted food products. So as the word artisanal becomes meaningless, savvy markers simply find another, similar term to replace it with."

Pie artist Jessica told Bored that she's starting to see the term 'bespoke' replace 'artisanal' in some contexts, including "bespoke waffle bar experience" and "bespoke nachos," referring to "customized, small batch products delivered with a hands-on human touch." Another 'foodie' term gaining popularity is 'upscaled' which refers to "high-end versions of comfort foods, and the practice of making simpler/cheaper ingredients into something fancier."

"This trend is still growing in light of the food price inflation the world is still reeling from after the pandemic, but I have a feeling that the term 'upscale' in the culinary context may be due for a refresh shortly," she shared her thoughts about the future with us.

"As food insecurity continues to be a global concern and we start to see more of a shift towards sustainable sources of nutrition that are easy to grow like fungi, seaweeds, and insect proteins, keep your eyes peeled for a new foodie term to take the place of the less palatable and less sexy 'sustainable' moniker. 'Superfoods' is already taken... I'm curious to see what term will ultimately emerge to blanket this new food trend!"

Many of the terms featured in this list would be perfectly fine if they weren’t overused to the point of absolute absurdity. If everything’s rustic, clean, and artisanal, then nothing is. Similarly, if every chef uses umami bombs and aioli, those words lose any and all meaning.

Naturally, the terms that foodies use will change over time. New trends are going to pop up, old ones are going to wither (until, inevitably, some of them return with a vengeance). The world of food isn’t all that different from the fashion world in this regard.

Terms rise and fall as new techniques and ingredients rise and fall in popularity. All that the internet asks is that people use them where they’re genuinely applicable, not just to say, well, anything at all.

The redditor’s thread got 6.2k upvotes and really showed the extent to which some folks are tired of some chefs’ pretentious comments. It’d be fair to say that people want to deal with grounded chefs cooking tasty food with quality ingredients, without making everything seem fancier (and more expensive) than it really is. Yes, image matters. But customers want a genuinely good experience, not just the illusion of one.

One of the worst sins any chef can commit is to focus on the presentation and deconstruction of the dishes at the expense of taste. Which reminds us—if you haven’t yet seen director Mark Mylod’s movie ‘The Menu,’ it’s a very fine, well, deconstruction (pardon the pun) of fine dining culture in the modern age.

Sometimes, a tasty cheeseburger is all that’s needed to leave a customer satisfied. It does not need to be rustic. The cheese doesn’t have to be artisanal. And the meat doesn’t have to be described as coming from grass-fed cows. The dish can speak for itself.