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Pet Peeve

Casey_212195

What does "pre-heat" the oven mean? When the oven is off, then it's pre-heated, right? Turning it on heats the oven. Why can't recipes just say "heat the oven to 350 degrees"?

Also, recently bought a Yaxell Super Gou. I can never go back to crap again.

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Comments

wolfiegirl

⚠. This is a job for SPAM MAN!! 😎

fisher23

Because it doesn't want you to put in the food until the oven is at temperature, if you do it will give inconsistent results. BTW I love my Yaxell knifes too.

Casey_212195

You explain the obvious. The grammar is still incorrect. "Heat the oven to 350 degrees," or "Place the food in a 350 degree oven." Pre-heat means before heat. It's nonsensical in the context of a recipe. Things need to make sense.

tjs

How about unsweet tea?!

Casey_212195

Absolutely!

brian_martin2001

While you're entitled to be irked by whatever you like, the definition of preheat is: "to heat before using or before subjecting to some further process"

So the definition you propose, before heat, is incorrect. Just because you think it should mean something based on the two components of the word, doesn't make it so.

As for your knife selection, to each their own.

Mandi_457839

The grammar is not incorrect because preheat is its own word with it's own definition. You are not adding a prefix to heat, preheat is its own word. You are misspelling it by adding a hyphen, which is incorrect and where you are getting confused. There is no hyphen, it's one word with the definition that Brian stated before.

Casey_212195

Where'd you get your definition? Understanding the meaning of a word based on its components absolutely should make it so. That's the point of words having meaning. "Pre" means before; it has no other definition, contextual or otherwise. Used as a prefix or a preposition, "pre" means before. In the case of "preheat," "pre" is used as a prefix to add the meaning "before" to the word "heat." Thus, "preheat" can only mean "before heat." This couldn't possibly be any simpler. As to the idea that "preheat" is its own word (see Mandi below), this idea postulates that known prefixes, suffixes and roots can be combined to invent new words bearing no relation to the accepted definitions of a word's components. If this were the case, which it is not, the usefulness of all agreed upon definitions would be negated. Then, chaos.

One could argue that usage baptizes. There is merit in that argument. If enough people incorrectly use a term enough times such that the incorrect usage is broadly understood, the incorrect usage can become established culinary lexicon. Which is fine, but it doesn't mean the usage is correct per se, it just means many people misunderstand it in the same way.

brian_martin2001

I got my definition from Oxford English Diction, and verified it with Merriam-Webster (slightly different verbiage, same gist), and Collins just for giggles. If can only mean "before heat" is we follow the linear breakdown of compound or hyphenated words. If you use that, a restroom is a room where you rest in, a firefly is an insect made of the visual aftermath of rapid oxidation, a redhead is a head that is red, and armchair is a chair that is used exclusively by an arm, etc. If you want to argue actual prefixes, let's tackle "parachute". "Para" means with and "chute" means fall. So a parachute would literally mean fall with, not a devise that slows or impedes ones' fall. The breakdown of the word "preheat" are "pre" and "heat", however, when you combine the two, just like other words or prefixes, the meaning of the whole is different than the sum of its parts. If you have a serious issue with that, go back in time and stop all the folks throughout history who created the way the English language works. "...doesn't mean the usage is correct per se, it just means many people misunderstand it in the same way" This statement is true to an extent, however, that doesn't mean every time you see something that you think should mean something other than what it does, that you are correct. I'm going to trust 3 authorities on defining the spoken English language far more than some random internet user.

Casey_212195

You make some great points with excellent examples. I agree with all of them inasmuch as they prove my point. The English language is full of compound words whose component meaning has little, if anything, to do with the accepted usage. Despite there being many of them, they are exceptions and mistakes in my view. But enough people use them in a consistently in the same incorrect way, and eventually the usage becomes standard.

The problem I have with "preheat" is that not only is it technically incorrect, but even worse it is completely unnecessary. It is perfectly accurate, within the context of a recipe, to say:

1. Heat the oven to 325 degrees

-or- Set oven to 325 (numerous other options)

2. Mix the dry ingredients

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients

4. Etc.

"Preheat" as a term brings nothing to the party other than it's common usage. Everyone knows it, everyone uses it, but it still ain't right...