"Janet Puistonen" > wrote in
news:AlXpg.166$Rk2.61@trndny04:

>> Yes, spaghetti and yes, thick, not spaghettini. Are spaghetti
>> not also referred to as noodles where you live? We call
>> spaghetti the object "nouilles" in French, but "spaghetti" when
>> it's a dish with spaghetti noodles. Colloquially, we refer to a
>> spaghetti dish as "un spaghetti" or "un spaghet". My mother made
>> a "spaghetti au four" which was an oven-baked spaghetti dish and
>> not a single spaghetti noodle in the oven.
>
> We usually refer to the Italian types using the general term
> "pasta," and within that group refer to each shape by its name:
> spaghetti, penne, farfalle, linguini, ziti, rotini, et al.
>
> "Noodles" normally refers to the wide, flat short type of noodle
> made by Germans.

Which just goes to show that language is not a fixed object.

--

"When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why
the poor have no food, they call me a communist."

Dom Helder Camara