The name of the White Castle sandwich- slyder or slider?

August 8, 2004 6:48 AM

Can I please get a definitive ruling on White Castle "slider" vs. White Castle "slyder"? Google tells me it's "slider" but I don't think that's right.
posted by blueshammer to food & drink (11 comments total)

Slyder.
posted by bingo at 7:07 AM on August 8, 2004

It's slider. The dates are the earliest hits.

NewspaperArchive.com:
"white castle" AND slyder: 0 hits
"white castle" AND slider: 9 hits; 7 Jan. 1993

Factiva.com:
"white castle" AND slyder: 120 hits; 13 Aug. 1993
"white castle" AND slider: 203 hits; 26 Mar. 1985

Proquest Historical Newspapers:
"white castle" AND slyder: 1 hit; 11 Jan 1998
"white castle" AND slider: 6 hits; 11 Jan. 1983.

Google Groups:
+"white castle" +slyder: 38; 15 Mar. 1998
+"white castle" +slider: 624; 4 Nov. 1982


It's never been "slyder" to me. Never once when I was downing a greasy square of oniony goodness did I think it was spelled with a Y. I woulda walked out of the joint right there.

Slyder, it appears, is a recent respelling. Some of the early articles suggest to me that it was a mistake made by people who were writing about the novelty of White Castle's but had not grown up with it or otherwise knew much about it. Other stories with the Y spelling include recipes made from White Castle burgers; it seems the Y spelling is used in the recipe name to avoid trademark problems.
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:08 AM on August 8, 2004

If you're looking for the first and original spelling, the White Castle use of "slyder" can safely be ignored. Don't put too much faith in corporations. "Slider" was used by the customers long before the restaurant chain picked it up. They merely adopted it as their own: best have some control over the perceived insult, right?

From the 25 July 1994 Columbus Dispatch:

"After decades of wincing at the graphic nicknames that diners hung on its unforgettable burgers, White Castle decided several years ago that people could call the burgers ''sliders'' if they wished. (White Castle is aware, no doubt, that customers have called them worse.) The public, of course, didn't need corporate approval but admired the company for being a good sport when, for instance, White Castle designed 'Slyder Pilot' ball caps."

From the 4 Dec. 1996 Denver Post:
"White Castle, after fighting the sliders reputation for years, decided in 1993 to get with the program. So, it started a 'Slyders' campaign."

One more:

LexisNexis Academic (Major Papers):
"white castle" AND slyder: 115; 3 Dec. 1993
"white castle" AND slider: 160; 11 Jan. 1983
posted by Mo Nickels at 7:17 AM on August 8, 2004

So wait... is it cause they slide out of the box they come in... or cause they, um, slide through the digestive system?
posted by John Kenneth Fisher at 7:24 AM on August 8, 2004

They're neither sliders nor slyders, but belly bombers. God, I miss White Castle.
posted by uncleozzy at 8:24 AM on August 8, 2004

FWIW, I've never seen "slyder."
posted by pmurray63 at 9:08 AM on August 8, 2004

They're "sliders" because they slide right down. (Or through, JKF.) Or "belly bombers" works too, uncleozzy.

They don't "slyde." They slide.

"Slyders" is an abomination unto the face of God, and I'm glad I've never seen it before today.

(Interestingly enough, no one seems to call Krystals by any kind of nickname that I've heard.)
posted by Vidiot at 10:26 AM on August 8, 2004

(Interestingly enough, no one seems to call Krystals by any kind of nickname that I've heard.)

My best friend from Alabama gives Krystals the "belly bomb" moniker.
posted by ChrisTN at 10:37 AM on August 8, 2004

We called them "rat-burgers."
posted by jpburns at 1:07 PM on August 8, 2004

It was always "sliders" in my mind. But I would also have accepted "gut bombs," a common Twin Cities term for them.
posted by GaelFC at 3:15 PM on August 8, 2004

I just call them pieces of utter shit.
posted by graventy at 8:05 PM on August 8, 2004