There are a lot of things that humanity probably won’t ever know for sure, like why are we here, is there a life after death, and what’s the origin of the famous brand name of snack crackers—Triscuit?
Scratch that, actually, someone answered this age-old question, and to the surprise of many, the tri part in Triscuit does not, in fact, mean three. I’m as shocked as you are!
And no, the people at Triscuit didn’t know this until this one Tweeter figured it all out with the power of the internet, so enjoy his thread explaining the whole thing.
More Info: Twitter
Ever wondered what ‘Triscuit’ actually means? Would you be surprised if we told it’s not ‘#3 plus biscuit’?
Image credits: sageboggs
So, Sage Boggs, a writer from New York City, was at a party and noticed a box of Triscuits. For those unaware, Triscuit is a brand name of various flavored whole wheat snack crackers produced by Nabisco, a subsidiary of the food and beverage giant Mondelēz International.
Upon seeing the box, Boggs had a thought: what does Triscuit mean, anyway? “It’s clearly based on the word ‘BISCUIT,’ but what does the ‘TRI’ mean?” he elaborated in his tweet.
Well, this guy solved the mystery, and shared his discoveries with the internet
At a party, Sage Boggs raised the question and started figuring it all out
Image credits: sageboggs
The general consensus was that the tri part had something to do with the number 3. Perhaps it was three layers of something inside it, or there were three ingredients, but nobody was sure.
So, Google to the rescue. Or not? Turns out, Google didn’t have an official version either—it rather fueled the discussion with even more guesses and speculations.
Google wasn’t too helpful, so he went straight to the source
Aaaand the source doesn’t know. But at least they confirmed that it doesn’t mean #3
Image credits: sageboggs
The next logical thing was to go straight to the source—Nabisco. The company producing that stuff should know, right? Wrong. Turns out, they had no records that would specifically explain the origins of the brand name. One thing was certain, though: they confirmed that it DOES NOT mean three.
“‘The ‘TRI’ does not mean 3.’ How… how do they know what it DOESN’T mean, but NOT know what it DOES mean? HOW??” was Boggs’ reaction (and many of ours, to be honest).
Image credits: sageboggs
This raised even more questions, but Boggs was determined and this short-lived dead end only fueled his ambitions to crack the case.
Further investigation into the history led Boggs to discover the key clue in the mystery—the box, specifically, the marketing blurbs found on the advertisements from the early 1900s. Turns out, these crackers were baked using electricity.
So, his journey continued and soon he found a key clue—ads from the early 1900s
Image credits: sageboggs
Turns out, they used to make these crackers using electricity—a novel process at the time
And that’s when it hit him—it’s elec-tri-city and biscuit
Image credits: sageboggs
“In the early 1900s, Triscuit was run out of Niagara Falls. And their big selling point? Being ‘baked by electricity.’ They were ‘the only food on the market prepared by this 1903 process.’ Look at the lightning bolts!”
And then it dawned on him. The tri in Triscuit doesn’t mean three for whatever reason—it comes from the word elec-tri-city. It’s an ‘electricity biscuit’!
Oh, it gets better as Triscuit themselves confirmed this and sent him some goodies for the research
Image credits: sageboggs
So, he shared his findings with Twitter, where it went super viral. The thread managed to receive nearly 180,000 likes with over 45,000 retweets. And the best part is that Triscuit took Boggs’ tweet and confirmed it, making this mystery of origin canon.
Oh, and Boggs is henceforth known as the Triscuit Guy and he also got a bunch of Triscuit boxes as a thank you for answering what the company itself never could.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you have any wild theories on what Triscuit could have meant? Let us know in the comment section below!
Here’s how people reacted to this discovery
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I thought "Oh boy, that's too easy, BIScuit is baken two times, so TRIscuit must be baken three times..." And then NO!!! It is elecTRIcal! :-) Thank you
D R A C O W H Y T H E H E C K A R E Y O U O N H E R E
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wowww, this is amazing. i love how passionate he is and determined he is to find the answer, that makes it all way better
Bis-cuit means "baked twice" in French, because biscuits are baked twice to ensure their taste and crispiness. It's the same word as the Italian "biscotto", the Spanish "bizcocho", or the German "Zwieback". Logically, "Triscuit" should mean "baked thrice" — at least, I always assumed it did.
Think about how firm biscotti gets after being baked twice. If you baked something as thin as a Triscuit three times, it would be like a piece of wood.
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Everything is a lie. So does a tricycle have 3 wheels or is it just and electric bicycle? Did a triceratops have 3 horns or was it just an electric biceratops? So many questions.
the third horn was a technological implant loaded with addressable RBG LEDs. Triceraops were the ravers of the dino world.
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This went in a way different direction than I anticipated but I'm delighted. I'm also laughing at the guy who surmised that "they're TRIangular shaped crackers, SIMPLE" when that's only a recent addition to the product line & these came out in 1903.
They made the right marketing move with that one.
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Maybe he needs to get on the 3rd condiment mystery (condiment sets came with three shakers until the 1850s... no record of what went with salt and pepper in the third shaker)
I mean, knowing my Victorian history... probably cocaine.
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I could live on these things... Always have a box of the smoked gouda or the rosemary and olive oil versions around for that anytime snack! Every. damned. time. I look at the box and seriously wondered why they were called "Triscuit" as maybe they were triangular at one time? no... baked 3 times... no... the third formula that worked? no... Electric Buiscuit... whooda thunk?
The jealousy I’m feeling right now. May one day we also have our own scooby doo moment.
Seems more likely that the name comes from the 19th century popular song "Yellow Basket," whose lyrics go "A-tisket a-tasket; A green and yellow basket." Ella Fitzgerald revived it in 1938.
ummmm are we not going to talk about what happened to the Triscuit factory??? Did it blow up or something? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!?
Gee thanks triscuit. I solved a 100 year old mystery and you give me some crackers.
I always thoug someone just said “yo what if it was a biscuit.... but 3.”
The triticum latin for wheat sounds plausible too, but I guess if the company like the elecTRIcity solution, that's fine, in lieu of someone who was there at the time.
I assumed as stated on the front of the box "Starts with 3 simple ingredients"
.All I know is they are delicious. Lots of fiber in them, too. Yummy with hummus.
Loved how his conclusion to how the knowledge of, "It doesn't mean three..."" could possible have been retained due to some guy screaming it while running out of a burning building before dying. Also stellar advertising for triscuits here. Ad execs take note. Find funny twitterers who r talkin 'bout ur products and give them stuff and interact with them.
This Is Hysterical! Now I must go get some Garlic & Rosemary Electricity Biscuits!
I figured THREE process to make it look like a basket weave.... OK, then. elecTRIc bisCUITs!
The "Chicken in a Biskit" one is easy. Just look at the ingredients. They use chicken broth to moisten the dough.
Cool, but that only solves part of the mystery. How is that a biscuit and not a cracker? The Triscuit guy even called them crackers. I sense an evil conspiracy.
The National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) building, or shall i say grain elevator, is still there off the Robert Moses. it is 100 yards from the Niagara River and the power generator intake. Easily spliced off to power the factory.
UG as an archivist, this thread (which is old by the way and not the first time it's appeared on BP) drives me a little nuts. There are business records, they're in archives and a lot of big companies have them (and most people at those big companies don't even know they have them).
Wrong - it's triticale (a wheat hybrid) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triticale Triticale was even mentioned in an old Star Trek
Maybe 'tri' _was_ correct for the bread (1) or toast (2) or cracker/wafer (3) edible - a TRiple (duty) bISCUIT. After all, they put it right there in the ad...
TL; DR, but it's printed on the box at the top of the article "THREE INGREDIENTS"! What is this horsebull?!
I get that way. When I must know, I. MUST. KNOW. I'm also glad that no one perished in a fire, taking the secret with them.
I learned more reading this than I do during an entire school day lol
⚠️⚠️ Sounds suspiciously fake. Plus: I would expect the "plant manager" to know how to spell the brand name in question (it's definitely not 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙐𝙄𝙏).
I thought "Oh boy, that's too easy, BIScuit is baken two times, so TRIscuit must be baken three times..." And then NO!!! It is elecTRIcal! :-) Thank you
D R A C O W H Y T H E H E C K A R E Y O U O N H E R E
Load More Replies... wowww, this is amazing. i love how passionate he is and determined he is to find the answer, that makes it all way better
Bis-cuit means "baked twice" in French, because biscuits are baked twice to ensure their taste and crispiness. It's the same word as the Italian "biscotto", the Spanish "bizcocho", or the German "Zwieback". Logically, "Triscuit" should mean "baked thrice" — at least, I always assumed it did.
Think about how firm biscotti gets after being baked twice. If you baked something as thin as a Triscuit three times, it would be like a piece of wood.
Load More Replies... Everything is a lie. So does a tricycle have 3 wheels or is it just and electric bicycle? Did a triceratops have 3 horns or was it just an electric biceratops? So many questions.
the third horn was a technological implant loaded with addressable RBG LEDs. Triceraops were the ravers of the dino world.
Load More Replies... This went in a way different direction than I anticipated but I'm delighted. I'm also laughing at the guy who surmised that "they're TRIangular shaped crackers, SIMPLE" when that's only a recent addition to the product line & these came out in 1903.
They made the right marketing move with that one.
Load More Replies... Maybe he needs to get on the 3rd condiment mystery (condiment sets came with three shakers until the 1850s... no record of what went with salt and pepper in the third shaker)
I mean, knowing my Victorian history... probably cocaine.
Load More Replies... I could live on these things... Always have a box of the smoked gouda or the rosemary and olive oil versions around for that anytime snack! Every. damned. time. I look at the box and seriously wondered why they were called "Triscuit" as maybe they were triangular at one time? no... baked 3 times... no... the third formula that worked? no... Electric Buiscuit... whooda thunk?
The jealousy I’m feeling right now. May one day we also have our own scooby doo moment.
Seems more likely that the name comes from the 19th century popular song "Yellow Basket," whose lyrics go "A-tisket a-tasket; A green and yellow basket." Ella Fitzgerald revived it in 1938.
ummmm are we not going to talk about what happened to the Triscuit factory??? Did it blow up or something? DOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT HAPPENED!?
Gee thanks triscuit. I solved a 100 year old mystery and you give me some crackers.
I always thoug someone just said “yo what if it was a biscuit.... but 3.”
The triticum latin for wheat sounds plausible too, but I guess if the company like the elecTRIcity solution, that's fine, in lieu of someone who was there at the time.
I assumed as stated on the front of the box "Starts with 3 simple ingredients"
.All I know is they are delicious. Lots of fiber in them, too. Yummy with hummus.
Loved how his conclusion to how the knowledge of, "It doesn't mean three..."" could possible have been retained due to some guy screaming it while running out of a burning building before dying. Also stellar advertising for triscuits here. Ad execs take note. Find funny twitterers who r talkin 'bout ur products and give them stuff and interact with them.
This Is Hysterical! Now I must go get some Garlic & Rosemary Electricity Biscuits!
I figured THREE process to make it look like a basket weave.... OK, then. elecTRIc bisCUITs!
The "Chicken in a Biskit" one is easy. Just look at the ingredients. They use chicken broth to moisten the dough.
Cool, but that only solves part of the mystery. How is that a biscuit and not a cracker? The Triscuit guy even called them crackers. I sense an evil conspiracy.
The National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) building, or shall i say grain elevator, is still there off the Robert Moses. it is 100 yards from the Niagara River and the power generator intake. Easily spliced off to power the factory.
UG as an archivist, this thread (which is old by the way and not the first time it's appeared on BP) drives me a little nuts. There are business records, they're in archives and a lot of big companies have them (and most people at those big companies don't even know they have them).
Wrong - it's triticale (a wheat hybrid) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triticale Triticale was even mentioned in an old Star Trek
Maybe 'tri' _was_ correct for the bread (1) or toast (2) or cracker/wafer (3) edible - a TRiple (duty) bISCUIT. After all, they put it right there in the ad...
TL; DR, but it's printed on the box at the top of the article "THREE INGREDIENTS"! What is this horsebull?!
I get that way. When I must know, I. MUST. KNOW. I'm also glad that no one perished in a fire, taking the secret with them.
I learned more reading this than I do during an entire school day lol
⚠️⚠️ Sounds suspiciously fake. Plus: I would expect the "plant manager" to know how to spell the brand name in question (it's definitely not 𝙏𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙐𝙄𝙏).
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