Chips, fries or crisps? The internet is divided over potato snack names

The discussion has polarised potato fans around the world

(Getty Images/iStockphoto)

When travelling abroad, few incidents are as irritating as ordering one thing and receiving another.

Brits in the US will be all too familiar with this predicament: order chips and receive crisps, only to be told: "Oh, you meant fries? You should've said!"

Now, the complex and highly-nuanced debate of what to call the different types of potato-based snacks has sparked a furore on Twitter after one Brit decided to tweet his definitive list that has since gone viral, garnering more than 105,700 likes.

Uploading a photograph of three different kinds of potato-based snacks, the user identified each with labels that have divided the internet.

According to the user’s comprehensive index, which is in line with British terminology, the chunky, thick, fried and floury variety should be called chips.

Meanwhile, the slimmer and crispier options - a staple in fast food restaurants and American diners - are fries.

Finally, he identifies what Brits know as crisps - he also conveniently calls them crisps.

The tweet has incensed users across the globe, prompting a wave of outrage as people seek to verify their own names for the different types of potato-based snacks.

One user labelled it “British propaganda” while another confessed: “I have had screaming matches over this”.

Another user claimed that the first image - labelled “chips” by the original tweet - depicts French fries, as does the second, but agreed that the third depicts crisps.

“First is steak fries, second is fries, third is chips,” argued another person.

“Funny how different places can have different ways of referring to things.”

An Australian user really shook things up by claiming that all three options should be referred to as “chips”.

A New Zealand-based user concurred that there were no differences in terms of referencing between all three and agreed that all can be considered as chips.

“THIS. It’s a my pet hate of mine, coming from UK, as they’re not all the same thing [sic],” wrote one user in response to the claim that all three are in fact chips.

“They’re not the same dimensions or cut in the same manner and it’s confusing.

“I never know which one people are talking about here in Australia.”

How you refer to your fries/crisps/chips of choice might seem like a fairly inconsequential matter, but if this latest social media squabble is anything to go by, the contentions are anything but half-baked.