The Mystery of the “Tuna Fish Sandwich”

Have you ever had one of those moments where you stop and think, “Wait, why do we say that?” I recently had one of those epiphanies while eating a perfectly mundane lunch: a tuna fish sandwich. Yes, you heard me correctly — a tuna fish sandwich. Not just tuna, and not just fish, but the full redundancy of “tuna fish.”

Let’s break this down for a second. Imagine you’re at a deli, staring at the menu board. There it is, bold and unapologetic: “Tuna Fish Sandwich.” Now, I’m no linguistics expert, but it strikes me as a bit… excessive. It’s like ordering a “Chicken Bird sandwich” or asking for “Beef Cow tacos.” Are we that confused about our protein sources?

It’s as if the sandwich designers of yesteryear were sitting around a table, pondering, “How can we ensure that our customers know exactly what kind of aquatic creature they’re consuming?” Someone, probably with a furrowed brow and a serious nod, must have said, “We need to specify that this tuna is indeed a fish. Otherwise, who knows what they might think!”

But let’s humor this logic for a minute. Do people actually get confused about what tuna is? Is there a secret society of individuals who believe tuna is some sort of exotic land mammal, just wandering the plains? Picture it: herds of tuna majestically roaming the countryside, grazing peacefully, until they end up…