tater
nounUK /ˈteɪtə/ · US /ˈteɪtɚ/
Etymology Representing an aphetic pronunciation of potato. Compare patater (“potato”), 'mater (“tomato”), and 'naner (“banana”).
1
Informal A potato.
- We ate them taters up real good.
- I went into the dining-room, and sot down afore a plate that had my name writ on a card onto it; and I did walk into the beef and 'taters and things about east.1884, Hiram Bigelow, Family Companion, letter, quoted in Dictionary of Americanisms, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, page 198:
2 more examples
- For sandwiches, you might sink your teeth into a Cape Cod reuben with crispy cod, Swiss and coleslaw with tater tots or sweet potato fries, fried chicken and waffle sandwich with maple aioli, or bacon jam burger — maple bourbon bacon jam, gorgonzola, fried egg, arugula, tomato.2022 June 12, Lauren Daley, “How to eat through Blackstone Valley in a weekend”, in Boston Globe:
- While Linder prefers his taters cut skinny, as they are in restaurant iterations of the dish, his co-author, the television chef Johanna Westman, says she prefers them thick, as in her Grandma Alva’s recipe.2023 December 20, Eric Kim, “A Creamy, Melty Potato Casserole That’s Outrageously Easy to Make”, in The New York Times Magazine:
- Playing 14 seasons in the major leagues, the right-handed-batting Scott was a three-time All-Star and hit 271 home runs, or taters, as he called them.2013 July 29, Richard Goldstein, “George Scott, Slugger Who Boomed ‘Taters’ in Fenway, Dies at 69”, in The New York Times:
- Derived terms
- later, tater, so help me tater, so help my tater, taters, tater tot