Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Pasta in long, often thick strands.
  • noun Electricity A slender tube of insulating material that covers bare wire.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A kind of Italian macaroni made in the form of cords smaller than ordinary macaroni, but several times larger than the threads of vermicelli.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A variety or macaroni made in tubes of small diameter.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A type of pasta made in the shape of long thin strings.
  • noun A dish that has spaghetti as a main part of it, such as spaghetti bolognese.
  • noun Informally, any type of pasta.
  • noun Electrical insulating tubing.
  • noun Anything tangled or confusing.
  • noun A short form of spaghetti code.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun spaghetti served with a tomato sauce
  • noun pasta in the form of long strings

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, pl. diminutive of spago, cord, from Late Latin spācum, of unknown origin.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Italian (see Italian etymology below)

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Examples

  • In English, the term spaghetti evokes a particular shape of long noodle.

    Do Bianchi 2009

  • This kind of falls in the center of what we see, some of those what we call the spaghetti models, the computer-generated models.

    CNN Transcript Sep 1, 2008 2008

  • In fact, take a look at this, just very quickly, this is what we refer to as our spaghetti model.

    CNN Transcript Aug 17, 2008 2008

  • This is what we call the spaghetti model charts, and each individual line here is a different computer model out putting a forecast for you, and see how they all line up.

    CNN Transcript Jul 20, 2008 2008

  • Computer models, what we call spaghetti models, could move across the northern coast of Cuba.

    CNN Transcript Sep 6, 2008 2008

  • This is what we referred to as our spaghetti models.

    CNN Transcript Aug 15, 2008 2008

  • We've laid down what we call our spaghetti map where all our different computer models.

    CNN Transcript Aug 18, 2007 2007

  • These are what we call spaghetti model forecasts, just because they look like a bunch of strings of spaghetti, don't they?

    CNN Transcript Aug 18, 2007 2007

  • SCHNEIDER: Mike, we're showing right now what we call our spaghetti map.

    CNN Transcript Aug 26, 2006 2006

  • He then turned on his tape, listening to Beethoven's joyous Seventh, but remembering how Claggett had objected to what he called spaghetti music, he found it distasteful.

    Space Michener, James 1982

Comments

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  • How many spaghettos does it take to make a spaghetti?

    April 21, 2008

  • Why, two of course!

    April 21, 2008

  • How do you eat spaghetti? I'm told that the "proper" way is by using a spoon to keep the noodles in place as you wind them around the fork like a spool of thread. I usually cut all the noodles into bite-size pieces I can eat easily with a fork, but I'm told this makes me uncivilized, oafish, and uncouth. I'm also told Asian folks typically eat noodles (maybe not spaghetti) by dribbling them from their mouths and slurping them all up, which may be acceptable in certain cultures but strikes me as the most barbaric of all.

    Friends, I need a definitive answer to this very important question! What is the right way?

    December 2, 2009

  • First rule: No cutting. Ever!

    The wind-y method (with or without spoon) has always been de rigueur in my neck of the woods.

    December 2, 2009

  • Hear Hear!

    I use the 'proper' way, but without the spoon. I also had a friend who used the proper way, but she would pull her fork out of the spaghetti, leaving a little twirl on her spoon which she ate from.

    December 2, 2009

  • Okay... so, uh... what's wrong with cutting, exactly?

    December 2, 2009

  • I'm not sure about rt, but I consider it an insult to the spaghetti, and I'm sure the Italians can say something about it too. I was always under the impression if the dangling strands from the twirl around your fork are too long, you cut them with your teeth.

    I'm interested in other ways though.

    Does anyone actually have spaghetti with meatballs?

    December 2, 2009

  • If you want to eat spaghetti the way puritan purist Italians do, neither spoons nor cutting are allowed(*).

    But there's no reason why everyone should eat spaghetti the way we do.

    (*)This is only one of the many rules of the tablecloth (**). Should I create a list?

    (**) This has nothing to do with rule of the tablecloth.

    December 2, 2009

  • I was hoping you, a real live Italian, might chime in! So do you just twirl the noodles around your fork without a spoon? If they dangle out of your mouth and require slurping, is that considered bad form?

    December 2, 2009

  • They don't dangle out of your mouth if your twirling technique is good enough :)

    Slurping is accepted as long as it is silent and the ectopic spaghetti portion is reasonably short. Otherwise you un-twirl your forkful and start over.

    December 2, 2009

  • I'll upload a video of the twirling technique next time I cook spaghetti (alone).

    December 2, 2009

  • The character of spaghetti is compromised by cutting, it seems to me. There are plenty of short pastas out there, after all--why not eat those?

    December 2, 2009

  • Or you can break them to little pieces before cooking, that way no cutting is necessary. Honest.

    December 2, 2009

  • Or you can put your pasta in a blender after it's fully cooked, and drink it with a straw.

    December 2, 2009

  • Guess it's high time I became more civilized, oafless, and couth.

    December 2, 2009

  • Never cut the spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, etc. Learn to twirl. Millions of Italian children can do it and so can you! You funny, Pro!

    December 2, 2009

  • I usually throw spaghetti at the wall and lick it off when I do the annual cleaning.

    What.

    December 2, 2009

  • Cutting spaghetti is acceptable only if all the cutting occurs at once at the beginning of the meal. I use a crosshatch cut.

    December 2, 2009

  • When you cut it, all the flavor leaks out, you see.

    This from a second-generation Italian, so listen to Pro first. :-)

    December 2, 2009

  • Every time you cut a spaghetto, an angel cries.

    December 2, 2009

  • What happens when you cut angel hair pasta?

    December 2, 2009

  • I thought the idea was to let the flavor out. Sort of like bone marrow.

    December 2, 2009

  • Eeew!

    December 2, 2009

  • Well, that almost killed spaghetti for me. I remember when I was small, my mum used to make me eat the bone marrow of some exotic dish we used to have. I cried. No, I didn't actually, but it was pretty bad.

    And with the slurping issue, as long as it's quiet, short and doesn't flick up onto your face, spraying sauce around your nose, like a bolognaise moustache.

    Bilby, is there something about spraying spaghetti that ignites your creative genius or does the wallpaper add another flavour?

    December 2, 2009

  • What happened to bilby's hilarious comment?*

    ruzuzu: in that case, an Italian cries.

    edit: never mind, it's on puritan purist.

    December 2, 2009

  • Prolagus, tell us more about this blended drink--would you pour it into a spaghettini glass?

    December 2, 2009

  • *snort*

    If you prefer, since it's quite stiff, you can make a batter and deep-fry it.

    December 2, 2009

  • Do your pour the sauce before or after blending?

    Blended drinks remind me of halo halo.

    December 2, 2009

  • *SNORT*

    December 2, 2009

  • 1. I was going to ask Prolagus, can one do that with other stiff things as well?

    ;) (evil wink)

    But,

    2. I don't care about the answer anymore since I read the rest of this page and am shocked--SHOCKED--that anyone above the age of six would CONSIDER cutting their spaghetti (or other long pasta), whether once or throughout the meal. SHOCKED.

    3. A little-known secret to successful fork-twirling of long pasta is this: Do not start with too much on your fork. Start with a couple two-three strands only. This will ensure that the finished twirled forkful will fit nicely in one's mouth without resulting in loose ends or looking as if one is a small garden snake attempting to eat Brazil.

    Edit: P.S. "When you cut a spaghetto..." made me laugh out loud.

    December 2, 2009

  • How do you ensure only two or three strands get on your fork? Scrape them off the top then twirl? Do you twirl horizontally? Usually I plunge my fork into the middle of my bowl/plate and twirl vertically (which may or may not be considered 'uncivilized, oafish, and uncouth').

    December 3, 2009

  • Ah, that's the trouble, my friend. Do not plunge. Rather, you ever-so-deftly tease out those couple two-three strands from the general strand mass and twirl them. This ensures that you won't resemble a small garden snake attempting to eat Brazil. (Chained: Brackets!)

    December 3, 2009

  • Heh. You make me laugh.

    I'll be sure to try that next time, though I imagine it will be so much harder than plunging.

    December 3, 2009

  • Not to worry. Pro's "How to Twirl Spaghetti" video is due out soon.

    December 3, 2009

  • I'm hoping the video will be part of the "Rules of the Tablecloth" series.

    December 3, 2009

  • *makes popcorn*

    *gets front row seat*

    December 3, 2009

  • What a grand sounding name.

    Edit: I tried to spell name three times. The first time, it came out as mane, then mean then amen.

    Further edit: *gets very back seat in middle*

    December 3, 2009

  • I am right now at this very moment eating spaghetti without first cutting it. And tomato sauce is dribbling down my chin, and splattering across the table, and flinging onto my shirt. I swear it is impossible to twirl the noodles completely around the fork so that none dangle when you lift it. I cannot get my lips around a single bite! Surely these "manners" are merely a cruel joke at my expense?

    December 3, 2009

  • The strands will inevitably dangle, and that's when you slurp them up, quietly of course.

    And just by the way, when you chop up your spaghetti, do you then spoon it up?

    December 3, 2009

  • You started this whole thing uselessness so don't wimp out on us now. Twirl till you drop, sucker. Who cares if your dining room ends up looking like a scene from Kill Bill? After all the fine advice you've had. We need authentic spaghetti-eating technique from you and we need it now!

    December 3, 2009

  • Besides, you can always lick the sauce off your walls in bilby style!

    ;-)

    December 3, 2009

  • Comin' right over!

    December 3, 2009

  • I'm waiting for Pro to use spaghetto in another sentence.

    December 3, 2009

  • How about Elvis Presley's "In Spaghetto"?

    December 3, 2009

  • Uselessness: First of all, it sounds like your sauce is way too runny. You are sarting with whole tomatoes, aren't you? Let it cook down a bit more, okay? Also, don't rinse the pasta. That startch helps the sauce to cling. Next, using the bottom-most tine of your fork, select a couple two-three strands; lift them up (your fork should be at about eye level) to separate them from the pack; lower your fork(at an angle so they don't slip off) to a corner of your plate or bowl; press the tips of all tines down and at an angle; twirl; lift a bit to inspect for hangers-down; if spotted, twirl another half turn or so; move your mouth over the plate; open wide and insert the entire fork (excluding the handle). You have to move quickly, right? Also, try to focus on your twirling until you've got it down pat. No more typing while twirling. You're not ready.

    December 3, 2009

  • Thank you, sensei. I will refine my technique in the spaghetto dojo and report on my progress once the art has been mastered.

    December 4, 2009

  • There was an Italian spaghetto

    who lived in the uselessness ghetto

    He taught him the trick

    The twirling technique

    While dying, he murmured 'Perfetto!'

    December 4, 2009

  • *hearts this page*

    December 4, 2009

  • Haha. Love it, Pro.

    ♥SMACK♥

    December 4, 2009

  • Uselessness: You are farting with whole tomatoes, aren't you?

    (Typo of dontcry's typo.)

    December 4, 2009

  • Whaaa??? Oh! Har! I mean, sarting, ahem, yes is the technical term for how to begin when beginning with tomatoes. Yes, it's a very technical cooking term I wouldn't expect most of you to know....

    December 4, 2009

  • Is there a rule as to whether you twirl with your right or left hand. I switch between the two, depending on how big my twirl is turning out to be...

    Edit: Pro: you poet! (which I first mis-typed as 'pet' ;-) )

    December 4, 2009

  • Could be that switching thing is what's getting you into trouble. That's not for amateurs, u. You're something of a hotdog, aren't you?

    December 4, 2009

  • Brackets on you're something of a hotdog, aren't you, please.

    December 4, 2009

  • Hehehehe.

    Spaghetti in garlic hotdog is supposedly very nice.

    December 4, 2009

  • I want to know if uselessness got sauce on his keyboard.

    December 4, 2009

  • Nope, just my laptop power supply. Fortunately?

    December 4, 2009

  • dontcry: I think Pro would make a wonderful pet.

    Even better than a Chia Pet!

    December 4, 2009

  • You know, uselessness, you could avoid this whole problem by eating rigatoni. Then you could stab each individual rigatone with your fork.

    Pro: Your poetry is quite tasty.

    December 4, 2009

  • (psst... it's rigatone)

    December 5, 2009

  • Yes, I am a big fan of the shorter pastas. Stuffed shells and ravioli are awesome too!

    December 5, 2009

  • Pro: I knew that. DAMN! My brain and my fingers aren't cooperating again. Fixed--thanks.

    December 5, 2009

  • How about some short spaghetti then?

    December 5, 2009

  • Impossible. As I've learned from this thread, such an invention would constitute a grave affront to the integrity of the pasta. I refuse to believe it exists.

    Edit: Also, as I've learned from this thread, it's better to click links before commenting on them. I have no sense of humor.

    Edit edit: In my defense, links don't show up on Zeitgeist, where I read your comment, so I didn't realize it was a link at all. ;-)

    December 5, 2009

  • Just think how wonderful you'll look in one of those dresses, all covered in red sauce. I'm beginning to fear your heart's not really dedicated to the pursuit of spaghetti.

    December 5, 2009

  • That short spaghetti would be the twirling challenge of all time!

    December 5, 2009

  • reesetee: I actually meant that rigatono was wrong, since the singular of rigatoni is rigatone! oops :)

    December 5, 2009

  • But...but then it's not as funny! *whines*

    Ah, what the hell. I'll eat all of them!

    December 5, 2009

  • That's the spirit!

    dontcry: hehe :-)

    December 5, 2009

  • Can someone please pass the sauce...

    December 5, 2009

  • Did you sart it first?

    December 5, 2009

  • Sure! And I'll get out the blender and the electric deep fryer.

    December 5, 2009

  • It's sarted and ready to go!

    December 5, 2009

  • *ties napkin around neck and gets special twirrling fork ready*

    *throws knife over shoulder*

    December 5, 2009

  • Yay!

    December 5, 2009

  • Bring on the spaghetti!

    Please.

    December 5, 2009

  • Mangia!

    December 5, 2009

  • I'm actually getting pretty upset because I'm realising more and more that this spaghetti is never going to come, as much as I will it here.

    Willed spaghetti...

    Yum... Slurp...Twirl...Cheesify-

    But it's not to be. :-(

    December 5, 2009

  • Pasta Myths Debunked link

    December 5, 2009

  • I thought frogapplause was crowned as Myth Pasta.

    December 5, 2009

  • Actually, I was only second runner-up. The judges took umbrage with my interview answer about throwing pasta against the wall.

    December 5, 2009

  • So people really do throw their pasta on the wall... hmmm...

    December 5, 2009

  • frogapplause, seize that crown! So you can begin every sentence "I, Myth Pasta..."

    December 5, 2009

  • And if you become the captain of a ship, your crew can say "aye aye Myth Pasta."

    December 5, 2009

  • I, Myth Pasta

    December 5, 2009

  • Congratulations on that crown frogapplause! Use it wisely... I liked your pronunciation. ;-) It really annoys me when people say pasta with a short 'a' sound. They make it sound like some sort of commercial marketing blah-di-blah.

    Don't ask me why. It just is.

    December 5, 2009

  • What about ramen? Break the block before cooking or leave intact for subsequent slurping?

    December 6, 2009

  • I don't know. Is ramen twirling officially the done thing?

    December 6, 2009

  • For ramen, it's all about slurping. No cutting, no twirrling, just slurping no matter how long, so it's important not to sit with a straight back for once.

    December 6, 2009

  • I suppose this would be a bad time for me to mention that I cut my ramen too. Apparently I have no respect for my noodles.

    December 6, 2009

  • I'll make this easy for you: don't eat ramen.

    December 6, 2009

  • absolutely right. ramyun is where it's at

    December 6, 2009

  • I have no respect for ramen, so I say cut it. (Although it did get me through some lean years.)

    December 6, 2009

  • Did I hear Chinese angels crying?

    December 6, 2009

  • I think so, bilby.

    Personally, I prefer spaghetti, but I have great respect for ramen too. They are all welcome at the dinner table in my house! (or the breakfast, or lunch table too ) ;-)

    December 6, 2009

  • No offense to Chinese angels, mind you. *hands Chinese angels a fistful of Nutello*

    December 6, 2009

  • The only time I break ramen (and I always feel bad about doing it) is when I'm making ramen with chickpeas and marinated artichoke hearts. I've found it's nearly impossible to get a decent ratio of chickpeas and noodles in a bite (the artichoke hearts are easier as one can stab it with the tines of the fork) unless the ramen is broken up before cooking.

    December 7, 2009

  • I've had friends who eat ramen right out of the package--no cooking, no seasoning.

    December 7, 2009

  • Being very fussy with ratios in food myself, I must admit that breaking ramen chained_bear style is reasonable, because it's for the overall benefit of the meal.

    I wonder what Chinese angels say about eating 'raw' ramen?

    December 7, 2009

  • What kind of sauce would you serve with New York?

    December 13, 2009

  • Big Apple sauce.

    December 13, 2009

  • Oh, my limerick disappeared. :(

    February 2, 2010

  • Ack! So it did. How about reposting it?

    February 2, 2010

  • It's back!

    February 8, 2010

  • For more about the well-known universal attraction between white shirts and spaghetti sauce, see buttered-cat array.

    November 2, 2010

  • Now that Prolagus is finished with his Four weeks, 28 breakfasts project, I'm hoping Rules of the Tablecloth will be his next project.

    March 3, 2011

  • Also see comments on spaghetti alla bolognese.

    October 24, 2013

  • Cf. spaghett.

    November 29, 2018