four-way

English

Etymology

The sense referring to a serving of Cincinnati chili was coined in the 1920s by Tom and John Kiradjieff, Slavic-Macedonian immigrants to Cincinnati, for their Empress Chili chain.^[1]

Adjective

four-way (not comparable)

(attributive) relating to four different directions.
a four-way stop

Derived terms

four-way stop

Noun

four-way (plural four-ways)

(Cincinnati) A serving of Cincinnati chili with spaghetti, cheese, and onions or sometimes beans.

Coordinate terms

References

^ Woellert, Dann (2013) The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili‎^[1], The History Press, →ISBN, retrieved November 20, 2015, page 29:
Coming from such a cultural crossroads, the brothers Kiradjieff spoke Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish and English. But they also created another language: the chili lingo that is still used today when ordering at a chili parlor. To aid in ordering, 'chili spaghetti with cheese on top' was shortened to 'three-way'. This was done to let servers shout their orders quickly to the cooks during a busy lunchtime.

[1] Woellert, Dann (2013) The Authentic History of Cincinnati Chili‎^[1], The History Press, →ISBN, retrieved November 20, 2015, page 29:
Coming from such a cultural crossroads, the brothers Kiradjieff spoke Macedonian, Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish and English. But they also created another language: the chili lingo that is still used today when ordering at a chili parlor. To aid in ordering, 'chili spaghetti with cheese on top' was shortened to 'three-way'. This was done to let servers shout their orders quickly to the cooks during a busy lunchtime.

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