SEMANTIC ENIGMAS



Why are plain crisps labelled "Ready Salted"? Jacques Cartier, Flint, Flintshire, UK Because in the old days they weren't. They came unsalted and you had to find the pinch of salt in a twist of paper, fish it out and sprinkle the contents over the crisps. Smith's Crisps were the leading brand and when Walker's came along their main selling point was that they were 'ready salted' and you didn't have to fiddle with the blue bag any more. Mike Heaney, Oxford, UK This is because old-fashioned crisps didn't have salt on them but came with a little bag of salt, which the consumer could choose whether or not to use. Hence the newfangled crisps, with salt already on them, were known as ready salted. Seán Doherty, Derry, Ireland I'm an expat and back in the UK during my childhood we had bags of genuinely plain crisps that came with a small blue sachet of salt, allowing you to add the salt to your taste preference. Now, they are preprepared to a standard, hence ready salted. I guess it has just stuck over the years. Neil, Durban, South Africa I think it's because the machine takes the effort out of it for you. Imagine standing there shaking salt, shock horror. Lenny Martin, Londonderry Northern Ireland



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