Catsup vs. Ketchup

[czarina84]

13 hours ago, rcdpink said:

Thank you for that information. You saved me the time and effort of getting the dictionary. So catsup is the same as  ketchup in English.

Yeah.  Catsup is ketchup.  It's just a different way to say it.  It is pronounced differently, too.  It's cat-sup, as opposed to ketch-up. 

[Trellum]

On 9/16/2014, 5:00:25, beccagreen said:

Catsup sounds, well not sound but the spelling looks weird. I always pronounce it as "Cat's Up" whenever I see it without realizing what it meant. I thought it was just a joke or something. And ketchup feels better in the eyes and the tongue. 

I am a Spanish speaker and to be honest my whole life I thought that Catsup was only used by Spanish speakers and ketchup was only used by English speakers.  I thought we were responsible for that odd spelling     Glad to know we really aren't, that both versions are used in the English speaking countries.  I personally prefer to use ''Ketchup'' when speaking English, and only use catsup when speaking with Spanish speakers. 

[pesic87]

I am not sure about catsup, I honestly heard it only in the Simpsons. In my country, they teach us to say ketchup. Nothing different is used here to refer to the same thing. I am just guessing catsup is just either some slang or a joke, maybe a way to play with the pronunciation of the word ketchup.

[Lynk]

Wow what interesting info in this thread! Who would have ever thought that it came from a Chinese word for a totally different sauce? I wonder how this came to be?

Hmmm I have seen both in spelling and on products but it never occurred to me that people would pronounce the two words differently! I have always pronounced it ketchup no matter how I see it spelled!

[OmniHead]

Catsup vs ketchup – Who wins the battle?

I remember myself being a kid; all bottles of that tomato sauce used to read as "Catsup" and this was the way they were for the years while growing up and turning into a teenager.

By that time I realized that some people used to call "ketchup" the catsup sauce, and still bottles were labeled as "catsup."

Later in time, I was already an adult and found myself making a choice when buying a bottle of "Catsup" versus buying a bottle of "Ketchup."

This was the time when I realized the "Ketchup" is simply the way "Catsup" is pronounced, and used literally as a part of the brand label

By the way, even I started learning English when I was 12, I always pronoucend "catsup" as it reads in Spanish, and yet today, unless I'm talking about it with an English speaker

[reverserewind]

The latter is the most common. Actually, I never even heard of the first. I guess pretty much no one uses the first. Right?

[Baburra]

On December 17, 2015 at 2:21 AM, Lynk said:

Wow what interesting info in this thread! Who would have ever thought that it came from a Chinese word for a totally different sauce? I wonder how this came to be?

Hmmm I have seen both in spelling and on products but it never occurred to me that people would pronounce the two words differently! I have always pronounced it ketchup no matter how I see it spelled!

I think this is just a theory though. There have been a lot of guesses I've seen after looking it up but it seems like there is no common consensus on the origins Of catsup. I'd like to believe that the Chinese theory is sound because that would give me some peace and this mystery can finally stop bugging me but in the back of my mind I'm always thinking that it's only a guess and that there is still no confirmed evidence that can prove it is indeed the proper origin. 

[KittyReeves]

I think it's just a region thing at this point. Where I'm from everyone says Ketchup, but my friend from Florida says it's Catsup. Not to mention, we both have a mutual friend, who says in New Zealand, there's no such thing as ketchup/catsup, they call it tomato paste.

[GennevierAnderson]

Never heard about the name or the pronunciation "catsup", even though in my country it is pronounced wrong most of the times, people would say something like "catcha" or even "kitchup", I have rarely heard a single person but me pronouncing it "ketchup", but again, I have never word the term "catsup".

[FenWoFon]

Well, Catsup is actually an alternative way to say Ketchup, there is nothing special on it I guess, that is my opinionthough.

[sidney]

I would also have to agree that it's a regional thing. Over here in the Philippines, "ketchup" is the word that's widely used. I think in the European area "catsup" is the more favored word.

[Beautyfulbree]

I have always thought catsup was a term used by elderly people. Here in the United States most people call it ketchup. I have seen it used on television in some movies. We never learned catsup as a word in school. In my personal opinion I would not include it in my vocabulary. 

[Dybbuk Jones]

I suspect that catsup was the original word, but over time the people spoke it fast and it came out as ketchup instead. It's probably a lot like the way that J developed by the sound of the letter Y being spoken fast - so would you became wouldja. Only with ketchup the fast version was so popular that companies just started calling it ketchup. 

[untalleslie]

I haven't thinked about this before, but it's curious... I live in Mexico and it's pretty common to say Catsup but I've traveled to the u.s. A couple of times and I've only heard the Ketchup term there, lol. I think that it has to do that it was California.. I'm not really sure if it's the same on the whole country. 

[Milner77]

Thеy'rе twо nаmеs fоr thе sаmе thing.  
Bоth wоrds dеrivе frоm а Mаlаysiаn wоrd thаt dоеsn't hаvе аn еxасt еquivаlеnt in еnglish sоunds.  оr pоssibly сhinеsе wоrds; thе еxасt оrigin is unсlеаr.  Thе оpеning "k" sоund аnd finаl "p" sоund аrе thе sаmе in bоth.  Thе diffеrеnсе bеtwееn а "сh" sоund аnd а "ts" sоund is nоt rеаlly аll thаt big. "сh" is, phоnеtiсаlly, еquivаlеnt tо "tsh", whiсh diffеrs frоm "ts" оnly slightly.  аnd thе vоwеls аrе thе еаsiеst things tо сhаngе bеtwееn diаlесts.
Sо thе оriginаl wоrd wоuld hаvе sоundеd bоth likе "kеtсhup" аnd "саtsup".  Bоth еntеrеd thе еnglish lаnguаgе аrоund 1700, whеn spеlling wаs а prеtty infоrmаl prосеss аnywаy.

[hzan]

I grew up recognising ketchup on ketchup bottles. I say as long as it tastes like what it is suppose to be it does not matter how it's spelled.

[Rooks57]

Technically they're both correct but most of the world would recognize ketchup over catsup.  Originally, both words were derived from the Chinese ke-tsiap, a pickled fish sauce.  When it was made in Malaysia the words became cache or ketjap in Indonesia.  Catsup and Katchup are both acceptable spleens for Ketchup.  In the 1800s, the ketchup was common in Britain and catsup was common in the US.  I know when I read old Western cowboy stories they used catsup but otherwise I would use ketchup because that's what I used growing up.

[hzan]

It's amazing how much history one bottle of red sauce has.