"Mom, Just Google It!"

That's what my daughter said to me when I told her I didn't know how French Fries got their name. "Well, can't you just Google it?" That's where we are today; 6 year olds telling us to look to the World Wide Web, even more specifically GOOGLE, to get information. When I was 6, my parents would have told me to look it up in an encyclopedia or go to the library. Information wasn't so easily available to us.

Does this "instant knowledge" help us or hurt us? Well, I would say that it helps us more often than not. I'm able to get quick answers for all those adorable 6 year old questions and the internet offers a plathera of information right at our fingertips. We're able to view pictures, videos, check various resources and even participate in online forums and discussions! Gone are the days when we could say, "I don't know." The solution to that is..."Google it."

An important reminder is that we need to educate ourselves and more importantly our children about internet safety. We also need to remember that not all information on the web is true; we need to check the credibility of our sources and continue to do the proper research. There is nothing worse than saying, "Well, the internet says...." and then sound like a jerk because your answer is totally wrong!

So back to the question.

Q: How did French Fries get their name?

A (according to Google): French fries are generally considered to be a Belgian invention rather than French. In Belgium and France they are called "pommes frites", pronounced "pom frit". This translates simply as "fried potatoes". The French part doesn't necessarily denote that the this is a French dish, but rather that the potatoes are "fried in the French style". There's also speculation that the French part refers to the julienne cutting of the potatoes, and since julienne was a bit cumbersome as a word, they started being called "French". Either way, the name stuck.

The good news for Moms and Dads is that there is always the fall back answer to every child's infamous question, "Why?" and we don't need Google to get that one; that's right, "Because I said so."