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Glite Dictionary
tripe and onions

tripe and onions

9.2
A cooked dish of cow stomach and onions that has a strong taste
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : tripas con cebolla
  • She prepared a hearty meal of tripe and onions for her visiting relatives.

Examples

  • The pub near my house still serves traditional tripe and onions every Thursday.

  • Many people today find tripe and onions too strong in flavor for their taste.

  • I love tripe and onions!

  • Have you ever tried tripe and onions?

  • The pub near my house still serves traditional tripe and onions every Thursday.

  • She prepared a hearty meal of tripe and onions for her visiting relatives.

  • Many people today find tripe and onions too strong in flavor for their taste.

How Appetizing

gourmet meal
5 4.9
tripe and onions
  • Archaic
9.2

Surface Forms

tripe and onions singular
tripe and onions plural

Morphology

tripe + and + onion

The phrase denotes a dish composed of the literal ingredients 'tripe' + 'and' + 'onions', so its central meaning ('a preparation of tripe with onions') is directly and compositionally derivable from the constituents. Any additional cultural evaluation (old‑fashioned or unappetizing) is pragmatic and does not prevent a B1 learner who knows the words from understanding the basic referent.

Etymology

Tripe and onions comes from simple, old cooking where people stewed tripe, the cow's stomach lining, with lots of onions to make a cheap, filling meal. The strong smell and plain style of the dish is why it is often called 'old-fashioned' or 'unappetizing' today.