“Education courses teach you words that say nothing.”

I heard this bit of wisdom from my music teacher, Esther Duncan, when I was a teenager. In her day, she was a legendary figure in Springfield for her feisty character, the excellence of her Lanphier choirs and her aggressive driving. After she retired I took private voice, piano and theory lessons from her — and learned much more than music.

I didn’t understand her remark until I heard college professors whose words sounded wisely important but were largely meaningless, divorced from reality. I remember Miss Duncan whenever I get frustrated with words that are so overused and/or misused that they’ve become meaningless. Here are a few food-related examples: Gourmet — The dictionary defines gourmet as: Noun 1) a connoisseur of fine food and drink; epicure. Adjective 2) of or characteristic of a gourmet, esp. in involving or purporting to involve high-quality or exotic ingredients and skilled preparation 3) elaborately equipped for the preparation of fancy, specialized, or exotic meals: a gourmet kitchen.

For centuries the word gourmet was used solely as a noun. It’s only relatively recently begun appearing as an adjective, and it’s as an adjective that the word has been overused to the point that it’s devoid of any meaning.

That’s reflected in the second definition: food can be gourmet if it just purports (definition: implies or claims, often falsely) to involve high-quality or exotic ingredients and skilled preparation — it doesn’t actually have to. Gourmet coffee at fast-food chains abounds. Gourmet sandwiches — those must be the ones with Dijon rather than ballpark mustard.

Bistro — Patricia Wells has long lived in France. She is unique: an American who critiques French restaurants for French readers.

In her cookbook, Bistro Cooking, she says, “Most simply, a bistro is a small neighborhood restaurant serving home-style, substantial fare. Diners are on a first name basis with the harried waitress. In days past, [Parisian] bistros served as an extension of the family living room. Apartment kitchens were small (in fact, almost nonexistent), and many Parisians took all their meals at their local bistro. In some cases they even stored their own napkins there. Bistro cuisine is French home cooking at its best. Ingredients….

come straight from the local market.” Many restaurants calling themselves bistros attempt to create that warm and casual ambience, even if the particulars aren’t the same. That’s fine with me. But bistro is now used in ways far removed from the real thing. Pizza Hut added a few pasta dishes to its menu, and now calls their restaurants “Italian Bistros.” In Italy bistro-like establishments are called trattorias. And nationallyfranchised pizza joints aren’t just different from genuine bistros; they’re their antithesis.

Bistro is also now used as an adjective. Bistro burgers, anyone? A Springfield sports bar serves “tangy bistro dipping sauce” with beer-battered brat bites…. Huh? Tuscan — Tuscany is the kneecap of Italy’s boot. Renowned 20th century gourmet Waverly Root says in The Cooking of Italy, “The one characteristic shared by the best Tuscan dishes is a single-minded avoidance of unnecessary complications. Great attention is paid to raw materials of the highest quality, cooked with a minimum of sauces and seasonings. Tuscany is best known for three gastronomic traditions: beef, beans and Chianti.”

The beef comes from Chianina cattle, the world’s oldest breed. Tuscans eat so many