To go

I was reading the 16 Jan 03 New Yorker when I came across a Calvin Trillin piece contrasting experiences ordering takeout food in New York and San Francisco. Trillin was in town to visit his daughter Abigail, a family law attorney, and her children. In the piece -- which is so lightweight it makes you wonder what kind of dues you have to pay before you get to the point where the New Yorker will just print whatever the hell you want to submit -- Trillin alleges that here in San Francisco we actually refer to takeout food as "carryout." He goes on to use that term for the entire piece. This baffled me. After living in San Francisco for almost 24 years, I use the term "takeout" and have never heard anyone insist otherwise. But when you call or walk into a restaurant, you just say, "I want to order to go" or "something to go." I've even heard the term "takeaway" used, and that's more a British usage. But not "carryout."

The piece goes on to praise what Trillin claims is the unique burrito produced in San Francisco's Mission District, and happily describes the widely-recognized logo of Taqueria La Cumbre: "a heroic painting of a sort of Latinized Ava Gardner wearing crossed bandoliers and carrying both a bugle and an unfurled Mexican flag." Yes, we love it.