A Takeaway Memory Test

[steepholm]

I've been trying to remember (without looking it up) at what point in my lifetime certain kinds of takeaway restaurant became commonplace in the UK. By "commonplace" I don't mean "available somewhere in the country" but "available in a typical mid-sized city" - say, a Derby, a Southampton or a Swansea.

This is my impression (but remember I lived my first 18 years in a small market town, so my knowledge is limited):

Common from before I was born: Fish and Chip shops, Chinese takeaways

1960s on: Indian takeaways and other curry houses

Around 1975-80: American-style hamburger and pizza places (Wimpys had been around longer than that, but seems a bit different in my mind, and not that commonly encountered)

1980s: Kebab houses

1990s on - everything else.

Is that reasonable? Have I left anything out, or got anything badly wrong? Remember, I'm not talking about London or the other really big cities - and of course cities with large immigrant populations from a particular country would probably have that country's food ready in takeaway form earlier.

Also, when did people start saying "to go" instead of "to take away" in this country? My impression is that this Americanism started in coffee shops like Starbucks and spread from there, which would put it the early years of this century. Do you agree?

And, on a different topic, have you noticed that "tsunami" has now almost entirely replaced "tidal wave" in common usage? It was not always so! On the other hand, I sense that "rickshaw" is being edged out by "tuk tuk", so the tide of Japanese-origin words is not entirely unchecked.

Comments

[joyeuce]

I'd put burger and pizza places a bit later, but that may be because I clearly remember McDonalds opening in Doncaster in the mid-1980s. We had Wimpy in the same place before that. And I don't remember seeing kebab houses unti the early 1990s.

I have never heard anyone British use "to go" instead of "takeaway", in coffee shops or anywhere else.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

You may well be right about the burger places: I was taking off a few years to compensate for my sheltered and semi-rural upbringing.

Really? No one says (if you order a coffee) "Is that to go?" I think I hear that more often that the other these days. How interesting!

[joyeuce]

Really, I have never heard that in this country. Though I don't go to coffee shops all that often.

I saw a non-chain pizza takeaway today that was advertising its "carry out deals". I had always thought "carry out" (pronounced "kerry oot" by my late grandfather-in-law) was the Scottish version of "takeaway", so wouldn't have expected to see it in Farnborough.