That is One Strange Bunny Hole
Over ten years ago, I wrote an essay called Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The other day I decided to take a look at it. I wanted to edit it so that I could include it in this blog. The best-laid plans…
On the first page, I referenced the “food service industry.” Grammarly, my best nonsentient writing friend, tagged it and requested that I correct the spelling of “food service.” What? The mighty program wanted me to combine the words to form a one-word “foodservice.” I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t look right to me. Faced with this dilemma, I had no choice; I dove headfirst down a “food service” bunny hole. This is what I found.
Some people think that food service and foodservice are interchangeable. They mean the same thing, and any person can choose either one and be correct. Yeah, some people think that. Others believe that someone, an unknown linguistic provocateur, introduced the combined word years ago in a corporate context. Then, for reasons unknown, the new word stuck. Some think this was done on purpose, while others view it as a simple mistake that caught on.
Other linguistic sleuths believe that the two words have distinct meanings. Food service applies only to those involved in the preparation and serving of food. At the same time, foodservice pertains to the industry as a whole. And yes, the only reason I am writing about this is that I woke up in the middle of the night, and I can’t get back to sleep. Sure, this discussion is slightly interesting, at least I guess that it is.
I found English majors and professors of all types chiming in on this topic. The arguments are not as spirited as those relating to grammar, but they are pretty good. Many people say that foodservice simply does not look right. Others say it is okay and should be used when talking about the industry in general and not the person who brings you your cheeseburger.
Now, finally, I can get to something I find fascinating. Have you ever heard of the Google NGram Viewer? You can query Google’s vast collection of books to find the popularity of words through time. Take a look at the following “food service” versus “foodservice” graph.
The word foodservice started to take off in the 1970s. It became more and more popular until the late 1990s. Oddly enough, food service constantly has remained more popular than its counterpart. This indicates that the people arguing for foodservice as a word applying to the industry as a whole are correct. Someone came up with it in the 1960s, and the distinction gained traction.
I highly recommend that you visit the Google NGram Viewer and play around with it. I certainly have. You can answer many of those questions that have been plaguing you for decades. For example, have you ever wondered who is more prevalent in literature; Albert Einstein, Sherlock Holmes, or Frankenstein? I went to the viewer and created this graph.
I believe my work here is done. Now that I know Frankenstein is in the lead I might be able to finally get some sleep.
