Re: refried beans [was: Re: Refrigerator]

Bob Cunningham wrote:

[fritos refritos]

> That sounds good, but getting back to "refried" in "refried beans",
> which is said to be a mistranslation of Spanish "refritos", which is
> said to not mean "refried", but "fried well", it seems the
> misconception is so widespread that it may outlast the correct
> meaning.  As I've said in another posting, it seems possible that
> the time may come when refried beans are really fried twice, because
> people will have heard so persistently that they were fried twice
> that they will have started frying them twice.

The ****ft of meaning may be in the nature of things.  To fry and fry 
again is roughly the same as to fry twice as long, therefore to fry 
thoroughly.  About the same process may be at work in "biscuit" 
(twice-cooked): as far as I can tell, even the hardest biscuit (I am 
thinking of sea-biscuit, or hardtack) is only baked for a long time, 
not baked and then later baked again..

> Googling on "refried beans" seems to come up with more statements
> that "refried" in "refried beans" means "fried twice" than with
> explanations of what really appears to be the true meaning, "fried
> well".

> As a further example of the widespreadness of the misconception, the
> _Oxford Spanish Dictionary_ defines the Spanish adjective "refrito"
>    as (a) (cocina) refried
>    (b) (version/obra) rehashed

Again, hashed over is thoroughly hashed, whether or not you take a 
break in the middle of things.  On the other hand, I hear they do 
chips in two stages.  Maybe they should be French REfries.

> Incidentally, students who like mnemonics might like to think of the
> meaning of "re-" in "frijoles refritos" as being sort of
> accidentally equivalent to the English word "'re'ally", as in
> "*really* fried beans".  In that context, the Spanish "re-" and the
> English "really" are intensifiers.

Beans frit for a king.