"Tossed salad and scrambled eggs"

Question

"But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs. They're callin' again."
Is "tossed salad & scrambled eggs" another name for...fruitcakes? Obviously because "they" are the callers of Dr Frazier's talk show. Byt why "tossed salad and why "scrambled eggs"? Is this a common expression?

P.S.Now "they" don't call Frazier anymore because "they" moved to chat rooms to get instant feedback. Good riddance.

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]"But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs. They're callin' again." Is "tossed salad ... the callers of Dr Frazier's talk show. Byt why "tossed salad and why "scrambled eggs"? Is this a common expression?[/nq]
Say what? I haven't watched Frasier in a long time, but that song goes something like "Now baby I hear those blues a-callin'/Tossed salads and scrambled eggs", and the "they" of "they're callin' again" is, I always thought, the blues. Why tossed salads and scrambled eggs? I assumed it was supposed to call up imagery of a guy whose wife has left him or whatever and so he has no one to cook for him, so he's forced to live on the few foods that are easy enough for him to prepare. TTBOMK it is not a common or fixed expression. Think of Coop: he can't cook much, but I'll bet he can make scrambled eggs, and maybe he can put a simple iceberg lettuce salad together.
I never thought that the "a-callin'" could also be a reference to the callers on the radio show of the character Frasier, and now that I think about it, I think that is an incorrect interpretation.

Usenet · Answer

Areff filted:
[nq:2]"But I don't know what to do with those tossed ... salad and why "scrambled eggs"? Is this a common expression?[/nq]
[nq:1]Say what? I haven't watched Frasier in a long time, but that song goes something like "Now baby ... radio show of the character Frasier, and now that I think about it, I think that is an incorrect interpretation.[/nq]
I happened to overhear someone talking to Kelsey Grammer the other day, and he mentioned the song...apparently it's meant to evoke the idea of "things that are all mixed up"..r

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]"But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambledeggs. They're callin' again." Is "tossed salad & ... a common expression? P.S.Now "they" don't call Frazier anymore because "they" moved to chatrooms to get instant feedback. Good riddance.[/nq]
Dr Crane's talk show, not Dr Frazier's. First name Frasier (with an 's' not Frazier with a Zee 'cos Frazier with a Zee spells ..stop, that way madness (and marriage to David) lies).
Google points to the lyrics as :
Hey baby, I hear the blues a-callin',
Tossed salad and scrambled eggs
Oh My
Mercy! (Or Sometimes "Quite stylish")
And maybe I seem a bit confused,
Yeah maybe, but I got you pegged!
Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!
But I don't know what to do with those tossed salads and scrambled eggs. They're callin' again.
Note: The last line of the theme song lyrics varied from episode to episode.
They were:
1.. They're callin' again.
2.. Good night, Seattle, we love you.
3.. What is a boy to do. Good night.
4.. Frasier has left the building.
5.. Thank You!
6.. Scrambled eggs all over my face. What is a boy to do. Goodnight,everybody.

7.. See you next year, we love ya.Frasier FAQ
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/frasier/faq/part1/section-35.html gives the writers' view:
>
None of which is going to stop discussions about what the lyrics really really mean

John Dean
Oxford

Usenet · Answer

??
[nq:1]Google points to the lyrics as : Hey baby, I hear the blues a-callin', Tossed salad and scrambled eggs > None of which is going to stop discussions about what the lyrics really really mean[/nq]
Thank you. I did not intend to analyze the lyrics of "Frasier". I was only wondering whether "tossed salad..." is a common expression. Now I'm more confused because Arreff suggested that "tossed salad" means "the blues".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]??[/nq]
[nq:2]Google points to the lyrics as : Hey baby, I hear the blues a-callin', Tossed salad and scrambled eggs[/nq]
[nq:2]<< Here is what I (and the songwriters and other ... to stop discussions about what the lyrics really really mean[/nq]
[nq:1]Thank you. I did not intend to analyze the lyrics of "Frasier". I was only wondering whether "tossed salad..." is a common expression. Now I'm more confused because Arreff suggested that "tossed salad" means "the blues".[/nq]
Pay no heed to Areff. A "tossed salad" is a common US expression for a salad made of lettuce and other veggies. The ingredients are tossed together to mix them up.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]Pay no heed to Areff. A "tossed salad" is a common US expression for a salad made of lettuce and other veggies. The ingredients are tossed together to mix them up.[/nq]
I agree with the second two sentences to some degree, Coop, but what I find odd is that you used the word "veggies". Yes, it's true, tossed salads contain ingredients that we regard as "vegetables", but for some reason I don't really think of them as "vegetables" in a conventional salad context.
BTW, in New York "vegetable" is pronounced /'vEtS,t@b@l/ (three syllables, first syllable like "vetch").

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]Pay no heed to Areff. A "tossed salad" is a ... veggies. The ingredients are tossed together to mix them up.[/nq]
[nq:1]I agree with the second two sentences to some degree, Coop, but what I find odd is that you used ... regard as "vegetables", but for some reason I don't really think of them as "vegetables" in a conventional salad context.[/nq]
What do you call tomatoes and sliced green peppers? Montana? A Reuben? One never knows how you classify things.
BTW, we went to "Toojay's" recently. Supposedly, Toojay's is a deli. They serve a Reuben as a roll-up with just a hint of something pinkish which was allegedly Russian Dressing. I was incredulous when it was presented to me. The waitress had no idea why I was disappointed. TEOTWAWKI.

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]I was only wondering whether "tossed salad..." is a common expression. Now I'm more confused because Arreff suggested that "tossed salad" means "the blues".[/nq]
1. Yes, Tossed Salad is a common expressionin American cooking and restaurant menus.
2. It does not mean the blues in eastern N. America.(I do not know whether it has this meaning in Seattle.)

Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs (Ottawa, Canada)

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]I was only wondering whether "tossed salad..." is a common expression. Now I'm more confused because Arreff suggested that "tossed salad" means "the blues".[/nq]
[nq:1]1. Yes, Tossed Salad is a common expression in American cooking and restaurant menus. 2. It does not mean the blues in eastern N. America. (I do not know whether it has this meaning in Seattle.)[/nq]I didn't mean to suggest that "tossed salad" means "the blues" anywhere. What I did say was that, to me, and this may be dead wrong, the song lyrics' usage of "tossed salads and scrambled eggs" suggested the following: traditionally men were supposed to not be highly skilled at cooking, but were able to cook certain kinds of simple things (such as scrambled eggs, and certainly tossed salads are easy to prepare). So, and given the song is sort of blues-inspired (it speaks of "blues a-callin'", and it starts out with a recognizable blues harmonic progression or something close to it), and given that the content of many blues songs has to do with one's man or woman leaving one and that sort of thing, and given that women were traditionally regarded as being responsible for preparing normative meals, my interpretation was that the narrator of the song is describing a situation where he has the blues because his woman has deserted him, and symbolically that's evident to him in that he has no one to cook him dinner so he has to prepare his meals himself, and all he can do is make scrambled eggs and tossed salads.

Now, as I say, this may or may not have been in the minds of whoever actually wrote those lyrics. Information cited by John Dean suggests that the writers of the song may have had an interpretation close to Arcadian's after all, but I'm skeptical.
Certainly "tossed salads and scrambled eggs" doesn't automatically suggest "people with lots of neuroses, mixed-up people". Then again, it may well be significant that the lyric has "scrambled" and not, say, "boiled" or "over medium".

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]salad and why "scrambled eggs"? Is this a common expression?[/nq]
[nq:1]Frasier FAQ http://www.faqs.org/faqs/tv/frasier/faq/part1/section-35.html gives the writers' view: << Here is what I (and the songwriters and other two creators of the show) thought it meant when we decided on it.(snip)[/nq]
In an Entertainment Weekly article on the Frasier finale, Peter Casey, one of the show's creators, had this to say about the song:

"We used a Joni Mitchell song about her visiting her analyst ('Twisted') as a temporary theme song. It was jazzy and funny but cost-prohibitive. We had a blind audition for three songs and were all drawn to 'Tossed Salads and Scrambled Eggs.' Bruce Miller, the composer, said the title referred to things that were 'mixed up,' like Frasier's callers."
"Twisted" (originally a Lambert, Hendricks & Ross tune, covered by Joni Mitchell on the "Court and Spark" album) would have been a fantastic choice as a theme song too bad they couldn't afford the rights.

"Tossed salad and scrambled eggs"

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