Scrod

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Scrod (or schrod) is not actually a specific type of fish, but rather a generic term for a young (2-lb or less) cod or, less frequently, haddock, split and deboned. It is a staple in many Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island seafood and fish markets, but is rarely found outside New England and New York.

A dubious folk etymology holds that the term comes from the acronym "Small Cod [or Haddock] Remaining On Dock", but it more likely comes from the obsolete Dutch schrood, piece cut off. Another dubious folk etymology holds that "scrod" is cod and "schrod" is haddock. ^[1]

Others claim the term comes from either a sign on a wharf in Boston or a restaurant that advertised this kind of generic whitefish as "Special Catch Recorded (sometimes 'Right') On Day."

[edit] In fiction

In Gary Shteyngart's novel Absurdistan, a rebel organization is known as the State Committee for the Restoration of Order and Democracy (SCROD). The protagonist wonders why they would have named their group after a "bad fish".

[edit] Scrod/pluperfect joke

A grammatical joke involving scrod often goes like this:

A businessman arriving in Boston for a convention found that his first evening was free, and he decided to go find a good seafood restaurant that served scrod, a Massachusetts specialty. Getting into a taxi, he asked the cab driver, "Do you know where I can get scrod around here?" "Sure," said the cabdriver. "I know a few places... but I can tell you it's not often I hear someone use the third-person pluperfect indicative anymore!"

Contrary to the joke, however, "scrod" is not the pluperfect of "screw." The "third-person pluperfect indicative" tense as used in the joke is actually nonsense, for humorous effect only.