This Triscuit Twitter Thread Is Our New Favorite Thing

On a fateful Wednesday night, one man sought an answer to a question maybe most of us never thought to ask, but should have. Why are Triscuits – the Nabisco cracker we’ve been taking for granted all these years – called Triscuits, anyway?

“OK, buckle up. I wanna talk to you about Triscuit,” writer Sage Boggs tweeted in a thread that has, as I type, been retweeted more than 46,000 times and generated more than 177,000 likes.

In a series of follow-up posts, Boggs took us along for his personal journey:

“Several years ago I was at a party (BRAG!), and I spotted a box of Triscuits. I asked everyone, ‘What does the word “Triscuit” mean? It's clearly based on the word "BISCUIT," but what does the "TRI" mean?’ (I'm great at parties.)”

“The consensus was that ‘TRI’ means three. Maybe ‘three layers’ or ‘three ingredients.’ No one knew for sure, though, so I Googled it. But here's the thing -- Google didn't seem to have an official answer, either. Just more guesses.”

“So we went straight to the source. We emailed Nabisco. And the response we got a few days later shook us to the core. Here it is:”

And here Boggs, who doesn’t explain who “we” is, posted a note he says he received back from the makers of the textured savory cracker. Between thanking Boggs for his interest and inviting him to favorite the Nabisco site, the company wrote, “No business records survive which specifically explain the origins or inspiration for the name Triscuit. But we do know the name was chosen as a fun derivation of the word ‘biscuit.’ The ‘TRI’ does not mean 3.”

Boggs was understandably – and vocally – flummoxed by this response. (In his case, maybe the “tri” means triggered?)

“’The "TRI" does not mean 3.’ How... how do they know what it DOESN'T mean, but NOT know what it DOES mean? HOW??” he rightfully demanded. “Also, ‘No business records survived’? What the HELL happened at the Triscuit factory? Did the building explode? Did someone run out of the doors and yell ‘It doesn't mean THREE!’ right before perishing in a giant blaze?”

(Oh my gosh, lol.)

But in addition to being seriously funny, Boggs is also apparently dogged in his pursuit of the truth. And he found it!

He dug up an old advertisement, which he shared on Twitter, that showed a plate of Triscuits superimposed over Niagara Falls (where they were made) with lightning bolts shooting out of them, boasting that they were “baked by electricity.”

For Boggs, it was a light-bulb moment.

“In the early 1900's, 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 that's when it clicked—“ he wrote. “Elec-TRI-city Biscuit TRISCUIT MEANS ‘ELECTRICITY BISCUIT.’”

The next day, Nabisco confirmed Boggs’ theory.

“We had to go all the way up the ladder but we CAN confirm,” the company tweeted, adding a lightning-bolt emoji to drive the point home.

Boggs was triumphant in his retweet. “We did it, folks. WE DID IT,” he wrote.

But by Thursday, Boggs had moved on to a new mystery of his own: the origin of the name Oreos. “Here we go again,” he wrote.

Related Links:

Taste Test: Healthier Crackers

7 Spins on Cheese and Crackers

5 Clever Ways to Hide an Oreo