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From: sra@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Newsgroups: net.nlang
Subject: Re: tuna fish
Message-ID: <690@oddjob.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 21-Apr-85 23:05:23 EST
Article-I.D.: oddjob.690
Posted: Sun Apr 21 23:05:23 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 22-Apr-85 03:16:55 EST
References: <2550@drutx.UUCP> <>
Reply-To: sra@oddjob.UUCP (Scott R. Anderson)
Organization: University of Chicago, Department of Physics
Lines: 18
Summary: 

In article <> gadfly@ihu1m.UUCP (Gadfly) writes:
>--
>I heard (I think from John Ciardi) that "tuna" was an advertising
>ploy, you know, like Greenland.  The fish was commonly known (and
>still is by fishermen) as "horse mackerel", and was caught solely
>for use as bait.

The name tuna, or tunny as it is known in some places, comes from Latin
by way of Spanish; it refers to fish of the genus "Thunnus" (American
Heritage Dictionary).  AHD also states that "tuna fish" is an alternate
name for the canned stuff (as opposed to an individual fish).  This agrees
with my usage (as a native Wisconsinite): a fish is a tuna, but when
processed and canned, it's usually tuna fish.

				    Scott Anderson
				    ihnp4!oddjob!kaos

"I can tune a piano, but I can't tune a fish!"