I love these debates! I want a go at it....🤓
It was always explained to me that to "french" something is just a particular way to cut it. So, a lot of popular "Fries" aren't French-cut potatoes and thus, not really "French Fries". Gustavo nails the grating (or shredding) being the key to tots and hash browns, but once the debate includes waffle and curly cut fries in a category of "Fries", then you've already eliminated "cutting-style / shape" as being the exclusionary factor. Grating or shredding potatoes isn't that far from waffling and spiral/curly cutting, they're all different methods of using sharp instruments to cut a potato down before frying.
Reconstituting the shredded/grated potato into a tot is where Gustavo seemed to land on as the line you don't cross to be a "French Fry", and I can agree with that. What is missing in the debate was Home Fries, which are basically French Fries that weren't french-cut. They're still cut and fried without reforming, just like the other "Fries". I'd argue that If home fries aren't french fries, then neither are waffle or curly fries. So using the term "Fries" instead of "French Fries" in broader context, I lean towards Chris's reasoning that cutting potatoes and frying them, no matter the shape or method, could still be in the "Fries" category.
So to answer Chris's original question: No, Tots aren't "French Fries" specifically, but to his follow up: Yes, they are certainly in the same broader category of "Fries", because that covers a whole variety of shapes and methods of cutting potatoes before frying.
However... a simple litmus test on the colloquial term "Fries" would be this thought experiment: If a person ordered a "Burger with Fries" and got one of the following: curly fries, steak-cut fries, shoestring fries, waffle fries, matchstick fries or even chipped fries; I believe generally speaking, they would accept the label of Fries. But if that Burger came with home fries, tots or hash browns, they might be annoyed. 🤷🏻♂️
That was fun.
