“Cheese Toastie” for a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi there.

Hi, who’s this?

This is David calling from Matthews, North Carolina.

Hey David.

Glad to have you.

What’s up?

So I’ve growing up with a tradition or a a s an item that people have called one name and then I’ve moved and nobody knows what I’m talking about.

Typically it’s called a grilled cheese, which is just, you know, two pieces of bread buttered with slice of cheese in the middle and then you put in a frying pan.

So it’s not technically grilled, but we grew up in my hometown, everybody calls them cheese toasties.

And so I’ve been trying to figure out because I’ve mentioned it in various places.

I currently, like I said, live in North Carolina.

My wife’s from Florida and every time I say cheese toasties, she gives me the crooked eye and like that’s not a thing.

And so Yeah.

Well something tells me you moved east.

Well I was from Illinois.

So so yeah, a little bit east and further south.

So were you near Decatur, Illinois?

I exactly.

Okay.

Gotcha.

Ding ding ding ding.

So cheese toasty T-O-A-S-T-I-E is definitely a regional term in the United States for a grilled cheese sandwich.

And you’re right, we don’t grill it, we cook it in a pan.

Doesn’t matter.

It’s still called grilled cheese by most Americans.

And there’s a part of this country.

It’s not just Decatur.

Although people in Decatur think it’s only theirs.

It’s actually a little more widespread than that.

You’ll find cheese toasty used instead of grilled cheese in Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, especially places like Decatur and Springfield, Illinois.

So it’s it’s it’s spread just across those three states.

And what complicates it is that there’s a cheese toasty in British English for a toasted sandwich, but it’s not made the same way.

It is bread, it is cheese, but you’re more likely to make it in a in an oven, maybe a toaster oven or in a in a press grill, like a panini grill or a George Foreman grill.

And so so yeah, so there’s a separate cheese toasty.

They were coined independently.

The British one didn’t give its name to the American one, nor vice versa.

It’s just a really, really common way to form new words to add an IE.

That’s it, man.

It’s that simple.

That’s crazy.

So yeah, it’s funny ’cause I’ve been listening to you guys for quite a while and there’s been a a part of my soul that’s been waiting for somebody else to call in and go, What’s the story with cheese toasties?

Search the website.

You will find it.

We have talked about this before, but why wait in agony when the information’s right there.

Yeah.

Just to put a little more m more information on this, the earliest use that we know of cheese toasty in the US to mean a cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich was 1909.

And the recipe was a little different.

It says you can use cream cheese instead of sliced cheese.

Whoa.

And yeah, that recipe was widely reprinted.

The whole conceit was that it’s an easy, convenient snack.

And definitely convenient enough.

That’s why the British have their own version of it.

Well David, you’re not alone.

All right.

Thanks, man.

Take care.

Yeah.

I appreciate you guys taking.

I I appreciate that information.

It’s great.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

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