Where did the word "chuck" come from in the term Chuck roast
noun: the part of a forequarter from the neck to the ribs and including the shoulder blade
yeah, but why chuck? and that makes me wonder about "chuck wagon". must be related.
welcome, Abby!
It is, according to OED, equivalent to chock, which comes from Old Norman French. Similar to an irregular block of wood.
One wudda thought that Mark Morton's Cupboard Lore (2d rev'd. ed., 2004) wudda had an explanation for this .. but no.
Why chuck?
My hunch is that chuck was another name for the yoke with which animals were harnessed. On a modern electric drill the chuck is the piece that fits yoke-like over the drill bit and secures it into place. On an animal, the yoke would typically attach to the animal in the general region termed the chuck cut during the butchering process.
I can find no specific evidence to support this though.
I think it's more to do with the overall quality of the food, personally ...