Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Entertainment/2016 November 13

Welcome to the Wikipedia Entertainment Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 13

Say hi to it before you eat it

Has anybody heard the phrase "Say hi to it before you eat it" or "Say hello to it before you eat it" in a film or TV show? It might not be exactly like that. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 13:48, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

Does that mean to admire the presentation of a meal before digging in, or have a more symbolic meaning ? StuRat (talk) 16:15, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

Sounds like the sort of thing one would be invited to do at Milliways. DuncanHill (talk) 16:45, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

Here's the scene from the HHGTTG TV series where they're introduced to the main course.

Other things that come to mind are Chapter 9 of Through the Looking-Glass where Alice is introduced to her food, or the ramen master scene from Tampopo. I don't think they say "hello" in any of these, though. -- BenRG (talk) 17:33, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

I'm sure this wasn't it; but it did bring to mind an episode from the TV series Tales from the Darkside "Love Hungry" where the main character (trying to lose weight) was forced to hear and see her food talk. Maineartists (talk) 18:43, 13 November 2016 (UTC)

I didn't want to post at first where it came from because it sounds like some old fart telling stories about his grandkids. The other day at lunchtime my daughter was over with her 4 year old and they were sharing a bowl of noodles. My daughter found a lump at the bottom that wasn't a noodle. She had it on the spoon and we were looking at it and making remarks. My sons six year old was sitting on the floor playing games on her tablet and suddenly came with the above which she thought was really funny. I wasn't sure if she got it from TV or just made it up. Either one is equally possible. None of the above look like the source for it but she does watch some strange cartoons which it may have come from. Thanks. CambridgeBayWeather, Uqaqtuq (talk), Sunasuttuq 09:12, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

I agree with the above responses that this relates to meeting your food before it is killed. However, it could also refer to ideas such as Ted Nugent's "raise, kill, eat." He has said many times that you shouldn't eat what you don't kill. That means that you could say "hello" to it before you eat it. 209.149.113.4 (talk) 14:59, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Besides Milliways (from HHGG), it could also be a reference to Terry Pratchett's novel The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents, in which Maurice, a speaking cat, has taken the habit of trying to talk to his prey before killing it, to make sure he doesn't kill any animal that can talk. – b_jonas 22:37, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

There's an old trope:

Waiter: How do you want your steak done?

Customer: Rare

Waiter: How rare?

Customer: I'll tell you how rare: Just wipe its ass and bring it by the table. I'll carve off what I want and ride the rest home.

You can find many examples of it here. Dennis Leary used the bit in his No Cure for Cancer routine in the early 1990s, but the trope is far older than that. --Jayron32 18:29, 15 November 2016 (UTC)