mashed potatoes (plural)
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mashed potato - a dish consisting of boiled potatoes that have been squashed and rendered to a creamy consistency.
mashed potatoes -> any potatoes that have been squashed and rendered to a creamy consistency. "The lorry ran over the sack of potatoes and they were all mashed."
To mash -> To beat into a soft mass; to crush, pound, or smash to a pulp; to squash.
mashed potatoes -> any potatoes that have been squashed and rendered to a creamy consistency. "The lorry ran over the sack of potatoes and they were all mashed."
To mash -> To beat into a soft mass; to crush, pound, or smash to a pulp; to squash.
That entry is probably automatically generated. Given a singular mashed potato, the plural is created by a bot, and has no significance. For the food, both singular and plural are common, with the same meaning.
What do you mean by non-idiomatic plural, given
?
A: "What are we having for dinner?"
B: "Sausage and mashed potato."
B: "Sausage and mashed potatoes."
Mashed potatoes also would be used to mean potatoes (uncooked) that were squashed/mashed in some way, as I wrote: "The lorry ran over the sack of potatoes and they were all mashed." To which I could add "Throw them away, nobody wants mashed potatoes," i.e. potatoes that have been squashed/mashed.
Singular 'mashed potato' seems to be BrE only, according to the Ngram, though 'mashed potatoes' is consistently a bit more common even here. (Compare in AmE, almost exclusively plural.) Presumably almost all mentions are the food you put on your plate, not for things done to potatoes.
Similar questions often leave me puzzled. Can people (AmE, as mentioned in #7) still use the plural form "potatoes" even if the person (or maybe some small animals like a pet mouse) has a small appetite, requires only a minimal amount of food?
e.g. My mouth usually eats some mashed potatoes.
Does this sentence give the impression that it can eat several potatoes?
EDIT: mouth is a typo for "mouse"
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I'm not sure what you mean by "My mouth usually eats some mashed potatoes". How would you eat anything, other than with your mouth? As for quantity, an American (or at least, this American🙂) would typically use the plural term "mashed potatoes" no matter how small a quantity was eaten:
Sylvia is on a very strict diet, and took only a teaspoon of mashed potatoes with her dinner.
Furthermore, even if I were only using one potato to make the dish, I would always call the result "mashed potatoes." Meanwhile, in my form of English, "mash" is nothing made of potatoes, or eaten by humans, but is instead a treat for horses.
Sylvia is on a very strict diet, and took only a teaspoon of mashed potatoes with her dinner.
Furthermore, even if I were only using one potato to make the dish, I would always call the result "mashed potatoes." Meanwhile, in my form of English, "mash" is nothing made of potatoes, or eaten by humans, but is instead a treat for horses.
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Sorry, that was a typo of for "mouse".
Thanks for the detailed explanation
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Or 'mash'.
Really? I am astonished. For my part, I have never heard any American refer to mashed potatoes as "mash", and I would find it extremely odd to hear an American say "Would you like some mash?", or "I think I will make mash tonight" in reference to mashed potatoes. To my mind, "mash" is normally used in the US to mean either a bran food for horses, or else a grain concoction used to make whiskey. I have never heard it used here by people born in the country to mean "mashed potatoes."
I've been reading books by British authors since I was nine or ten, I spent three years in Scotland, and I married a woman who had spent seven years in Ireland. A lot of BrE terms have crept -- nay, leapt -- into my active vocabulary.
And I don't think I've ever heard any (real-world, real-life) British person refer to mashed potatoes as mashed potato(es). To me it is and has always been simply mash.
But anything else that's mashed has to have its vegetable stated: The other day I had mashed swede*.
* rutabaga in AmE, I believe
Sausage/bangers and mash.
Pie and mash.
Pie and mash.
Erm ... I do, ewie.
I use "mash" in collocations like sausage and mash. But if I was serving out portions of food, I'd say "Do you want some mashed potato(es)?"
I agree with Loob. I say either "mashed potatoes" or "mashed potato". The word "mash" has never been in my active vocabulary.
To me, "mash" is a term that has crept into restaurant menus in recent decades, along with the gentrification of old-fashioned working-class dishes.
To me, "mash" is a term that has crept into restaurant menus in recent decades, along with the gentrification of old-fashioned working-class dishes.
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That's funny WMcW because to me mashed potato(es) sounds like something served in restaurants where you have to wear a linen napkin
[CLUE: I never ever go out to eat.]
Or 'pomme purée'.
I'm not sure I've ever seen 'mashed potato(es)' on a menu.
I recall 'creamed potatoes' from my school-dinner days, and in the past, really posh linen-napkin places might've called it purée parmentier or something fancy.
'Mash' belongs in the phrase 'sausage and mash' or 'bangers and mash'. I think that 'mash' on its own, as a menu item, has a definite faux-working class "mockney" feel.
Cross-posted with Agc and HP
I recall 'creamed potatoes' from my school-dinner days, and in the past, really posh linen-napkin places might've called it purée parmentier or something fancy.
'Mash' belongs in the phrase 'sausage and mash' or 'bangers and mash'. I think that 'mash' on its own, as a menu item, has a definite faux-working class "mockney" feel.
Cross-posted with Agc and HP
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The use of the singular and plural has nothing to do with the amount.
The word "potato" is what some people refer to as a "material noun".
A material noun is a noun that is composed of its own matter, e.g. coffee is made of coffee, milk is made of milk, iron is made of iron, plastic is made of plastic.
These nouns can be used countably or uncountably. They are most commonly food items:
Do you want some potato/cake/chocolate/ice cream/sugar, etc. (uncountable)
and
Do you want some potatoes/cakes/chocolates/ice creams/sugars, etc. (countable)
The uncountable version describes an amount of the material/matter in question.
The countable version describes individual items in question.
Thus mashed potato and mashed potatoes are both are correct.
The first describes the material "potato" that has been mashed, and the second describes individual potatoes that have been mashed.
I concur with the AE speakers above who say what we eat here is mashed potatoes. Once they are mashed, the individual potatoes no longer exist and it becomes a substance like water. So it doesn't matter if there were originally one or ten at the start of the cooking process.
"Would you like more water?"
"Would you like more mashed potatoes?"
"Is there any more water left?"
"Is/are there any more mashed potatoes left?"
A: What comes with the chicken?
B: It comes with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans.
"Would you like more water?"
"Would you like more mashed potatoes?"
"Is there any more water left?"
"Is/are there any more mashed potatoes left?"
A: What comes with the chicken?
B: It comes with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans.
For some reason, I can't quite imagine going to the trouble of making mashed potatoes out of one potato even if I'm just cooking for myself and that one potato is large enough to satisfy me.
Agreed, though I have seen potatoes as big as my keyboard. 😁For some reason, I can't quite imagine going to the trouble of making mashed potatoes out of one potato even if I'm just cooking for myself and that one potato is large enough to satisfy me.
Are you kidding, I have seen potatoes as big as a railroad car.
It's incredibly easy to do, regardless of potato size or number. And, regardless of potato number and size, it is still called mashed potatoes in the US-English that people whom I know speak.For some reason, I can't quite imagine going to the trouble of making mashed potatoes out of one potato even if I'm just cooking for myself and that one potato is large enough to satisfy me.
A (mentally inserted) comma after 'substance' might help. 💡
I think you misread my comment.
Here's a little confusion. Actually, I thought I had understood everything before I read "there are...".
I thought that since potatoes became a substance, "mashed potatoes", regardless of the form "....es", should pair with words like much, little, less, etc., and the verb after it should use the singular "is" (as you pointed out, it's the same as water).
Whereas "are" indicated the presence of separate, individual entities in people's minds, rather than a cohesive entity.
So why can "are" also be used here?
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Yes, I usually say 'mashed potato' or just 'mash'. What is interesting is that if I use the informal word for potato, then it's 'mashed tatties' rather than 'mashed tatty'. And I see it appears in recipe names too like: Cheesy Mashed Tatties & Kale
(Yes, I'm aware that 'tatty' is Scottish or Northern English.)
Also, do we say 'mashed spuds' or 'mashed spud'? I'm not sure as I use 'tatty' rather than 'spud'.
(Yes, I'm aware that 'tatty' is Scottish or Northern English.)
Also, do we say 'mashed spuds' or 'mashed spud'? I'm not sure as I use 'tatty' rather than 'spud'.
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I normally use are with mashed potatoes because potatoes is a plural word : Are there any mashed potatoes left? I certainly don't spend any time pondering whether mashed potatoes are a substance or whether somebody might have mashed only one potato.
I use is in my comments about one potato: There is a baked potato left over from dinner. If you're hungry, you can warm it up and have it now.
I think the analogy would be to things that, while actually singular or uncountable, as treated as plurals -- for example, "scissors" or "trousers":
Where are your scissors?
His trousers were stained and wrinkled.
The mashed potatoes were cold and lumpy.
I want to thoroughly understand this phenomenon, so here's another related question.
There are/is n't much/many mashed potatoes left and they are / it is cold.
I just wish to know how would you say this (opinions from a native standpoint, rather than a grammar standpoint)?
There are/is n't much/many mashed potatoes left and they are / it is cold.
I just wish to know how would you say this (opinions from a native standpoint, rather than a grammar standpoint)?
Potatoes are not a substance. "Potatoes" is the plural of the countable noun "potato".
"Mashed potatoes" is a substance.
From a grammar standpoint. Also from a native standpoint.
I just can't imagine saying 'There isn't much mashed potatoes left and it is cold.'
Nor 'There aren't many mashed potatoes left and they are cold.'
I can, however, imagine saying 'There isn't much mashed potato left, and it's cold.'
Nor 'There aren't many mashed potatoes left and they are cold.'
I can, however, imagine saying 'There isn't much mashed potato left, and it's cold.'
Thus mashed potato and mashed potatoes are both correct.
I agree and mashed potatoes is a mass noun (uncountable as stated above)
The problem is that most uncountable nouns use singular verbs:
The wheat was harvested yesterday.
This wine is delicious.
Gold is valued by many people.
Mashed potatoes, on the other hand, for those of us who always use the plural form (and as I said in post #36 above) requires a plural verb:
The mashed potatoes are lumpy.
The mashed potatoes were cold.
Mashed potatoes and scissors, they share many similarities, but I find there are also a discrepancy. When using pronouns, the singular "it" is employed to refer to the previously mentioned "mashed potatoes", and consequently the verb after it should also be in the singular form, while "my scissors...they are sharp" uses the plural form "they".
The pattern of "mashed potatoes" is similar to that of many others, but it possesses its own unique characteristics.
Thanks. I feel that I, and potentially others who may view this post in the future, will gain a better understanding of the grammar in this area through your discussion.
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I don't think they do:
a pair of scissors
a pair of glasses
a pair of pants
a pair of mashed potatoes
"Scissors" is a pair: two things. "Mashed potatoes" is uncountable (not singular or plural). It is a substance, and its grammar is like the grammar of other substances:
- a glass of milk
- a bowl of soup
- a bowl of mashed potatoes
- a liter of water
- a liter of mashed potatoes
Excuse me, Robby, but while I do not mean to be rude, I will point out to you that I have been a native speaker of English for more than 60 years, and I have been eating mashed potatoes for an even longer time. I do not know what kind of English you speak, but -- as I clearly and explicitly said -- in my form of American English, I can certainly assure you that the singular 'it' is NOT employed, nor is the verb after it "in the singular form". When using a pronoun, those native speakers who speak as I do refer to mashed potatoes as "they", not "it", and we use a plural verb.
You are free to consider my form of English as it is spoken by native speakers to be "wrong", but I hope you will understand if I give that judgment little consideration.
I would consider any form of English widely accepted by native speakers as "correct". That's why I usually wish to get an opinion from a native standpoint rather than a prescriptive, or so called grammatical, standpoint.
I'd like to simply gain insights into the underlying thought patterns of the language.
The reason why I said "they" is because there has been only a little discussion regarding "they vs it", and that "a little" seems to favor singular.
Since I wouldn't call any form of English widely accepted to be wrong, my conclusion now is that: different thought patterns are employed on this issue
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I don't know where you've seen
It's simple.
I like this mashed potato. It's good.
I like these mashed potatoes. They're good.
Robbie Zhu.
It's simple.
I like this mashed potato. It's good.
I like these mashed potatoes. They're good.
At #39, Could that be a typo？
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I've never heard either form of "mashed spuds". However, the implement used to mash them is known as a "spud basher", in my house at least.
Mine’s a potato masher. But I recognise the (military/slang) term spud-bashing.