Pass the Chile

Pass the Chile Pass the Chile Pass the Chile By Maeve Maddox Every time I see a race called the Chile Pepper advertised in my local paper, I have the same reaction: Chile is the country and chili is the vegetable! Most dictionaries give the spelling chile as a variant of chili, but chili remains the most common American spelling. (The British spell chili with two ls: chilli.) The word chili comes from a Nahuatl word cilli. It has nothing to do with the country Chile. (For various theories as to where the country got its name, see the Etymology section in the Wikipedia article. Link below.) Spelling the country (Chile) one way and the edible (chili) another seems to me to serve a useful purpose. As the U. S. Hispanic population grows and as more Americans learn even a little Spanish, the Spanish spelling may come to look right to more and more people. Time will tell. NOTE: Some may argue that the chili pepper is not a vegetable, but a spice. Certainly that is how we use it, but the chili pepper belongs to the same plant family as tomatoes and potatoes. Etymology of the name of the country Chile See this article at YaleGlobal Online for all you could ever want to know about chili peppers. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:"Because Of" and "Due To" 60 Synonyms for â€Å"Trip†10 Writing Exercises to Tighten Your Writing