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You are here: Home / Language / Where Do the Terms “Spuds” and “Taters” For Potatoes Come From and What Do They Mean?

Where Do the Terms “Spuds” and “Taters” For Potatoes Come From and What Do They Mean?

May 17, 2020 by Karen Hill

Back in the fifteenth century a spud was a short-handled spade that had a general use but was best known for digging up potatoes.

People who sold potatoes were called spuddies.

In Britain, taters means cold, and, as is suggested in the rhyme “potatoes in the mould equals cold”.

Potatoes when grown in the mould, which is topsoil, are colder than if they’d grown deeper in the ground.

Therefore, cold spuds are called taters.

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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