Topic: Moorish or moreish?

[George]

I thought the spelling with two o's must be wrong because moor is like moorland, and nothing to do with wanting more of something.

Surely it should be 'moreish' because that's based on the word "more:

For example: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/moreish

"(of food) having a very pleasant taste and making you want to eat more
These peanuts are very moreish, aren't they?
(Definition of moreish adjective from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary)"

But a search of google suggests 'moorish' is more popular, finding more than twice as many hits as 'moreish'.

I don't think it's 'morish' either. At google, that just prompts a spelling correction.

Anyway, it's the acid test for me. Perhaps we ought to have star rating on the recipes here, based simply on how moreish the dishes are.

[Malc.]

Open rating systems seldom work fairly or give an accurate representation, as has been discussed before. Especially given the difference in palates of the members, their ability to follow recipes and the regional variations that BIR has.

It's a shame because if it could be a reliable way of determining the better recipes, it certainly would be beneficial.

Just my opinion though.

 

Moorish would have been my first guess but then again, my spelling is terrible.

[Razor]

Hi George,

In your search for clarity, you may have been directed to this forum http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=112684

If the replying mod is as knowledgeable as he/she seems, it could be that your first thoughts of "moreish" is actually correct, and moorish has come about by incorrect spelling but in-keeping phonetically.  Even this site's spellchecker suggest's that the word Moorish, is a noun, as in, it's either a place, name or idea!

Hope that helps?

Ray

[PhilUK]

Moreish sounds good to me-I think we all know what it means!
As far as I'm aware, Moorish means something from Morocco and applies to a style of building usually found in southern Spain-I think the moors were a tribe that originally came from Morocco.
So for example, if I were Moroccan and looking at this site- I may inadvertently confuse a Moorish curry with Moroccan food- or worse still, I may attempt to make a building out of curry, which would be a bad(yet tasty)idea.
In conclusion I think Moreish works best.
Phil