As an Australian I can comment on this, theres this wonderful thing called "Context"
At McDonalds they refer to them as fries, but if you ask for a large chips, they know what you mean. If you go into a petrol station and ask where the crisps are, nobodies head explodes. If you go into a place that has ALL 3 (french fries, chips and crisps) and say "Can I get some chips" the person will ask for clarificaton.
British roots and American television has made OUR english quite flexible.
As a rule most people I know think of french fries or fries as thin cut and chips as thick cut. Most restaraunts only do one or the other. If you ask for steak and chips and they do fries, they will either clarify for you (more likely) or just bring you fries.
We also say chips and chips. If you need to clarify, crisps are "potato chips" and chips are "hot chips". A chippie is a shop that sells (fish and) chips, not the chips themselves.
Usually not a problem because of context but you can easily specify hot chips or packet chips in places where they might have both such as a school or sports canteen.
We have wedges and curly fries here in the UK too :).
We have Chips, Fries, Curly Fries, Potato Wedges, Salt and Pepper chips, Ziggy Fries and many more I assume
We got to know each other well prior to her conversion. She took a strict vow of silence, excluding “crisps”. We still talk. It’s impressive how much she can express with inflection.
Just came back from Australia. Chips (or crisps) don't seem to exist anywhere but grocery/convenience stores. So I never really heard them referred to as anything.
Restaurants exclusively serve fries as far as I could tell. Even with sandwiches. And they call them "chips" whether they are skinny or fat.
Where the fuck are you going to find a packet of chips outside of a supermarket. Restaurants overseas aren’t selling this shit alongside hot chips are they?
Also you can use fries, it’s not common and it really only refers to the little thin fuckers you get at maccas or some other fast food shitheap.
Chips (or crisps) don’t seem to exist anywhere but grocery/convenience stores.
That... that's normal, right? That's where chips are supposed to come from.
Like, I have been to a restaurant or two that had "chips" on the menu, usually as "fish and chips" or some other battered and fried stick of meat "and chips" where, to my supreme bewilderment, the side was a pile of Lays, but, like, those restaurants were universally run by geriatrics in the middle of nowhere, served food on paper plates, and where wrong.
From the perspective of an American, chips or crisps are a common side for lunch foods, particularly for sandwiches. In fancier restaurants / cafes, they can be fancier "kettle chips" which can also be house made.
I know fancy "crisps" may not make much sense outside of America, but we have taken thinly slice fried potatoes to a gourmet level here.
Edit- also, tortilla chips are also a common side in southern California, and they are not at all like anything you can get overseas without really looking. And no, I'm not talking about Tostitos style chips that are used for shitty dips.
In America, fries with sandwiches does exist, but it's more of a Diner thing, or restaurants that serve burgers and other entres that usually include fries. Chips with sandwiches is definitely much more common for cafes and delis where sandwiches are more of a primary menu option.
It's communicated by context cues the same way one word has different meanings and context points to towards the meaning the person is communicating with a word
Though it does get annoying when the context cues are missing for example someone asking you if you want chips and not specifying what type
I'm guessing Australian language for "chips" calls them both that because they are a product made from potato that is usually salted and the two in the image are just different styles of the same potato product
“I’m not sure if it’s good to have freedom or not,” he said at a conference in 2009. “I’m gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we’re not being controlled, we’ll just do what we want.”