DEAR MISS MANNERS: What's the best way to order something from a menu when the restaurant has given it a ridiculous name?
The restaurant calls the sandwich I want "Smack Yo Mama." It's stupid -- and I find it offensive. Do I just point at it in the menu and say, "I'll have that"? Or do I say, "I'll have the Smack Yo Mama without the side order of misogyny, please"?
GENTLE READER: Pointing is one option. Another is to read back the description that most menus find necessary when the name is so clever as to be unidentifiable:
"I would like the pastrami on rye with Tabasco, cayenne pepper and a side of pomme frites."
Miss Manners recommends reserving complaints for someone, such as a manager, who is in a position to make a change. If none is available, the suggestion box or the restaurant's comment section on its website will do.