Names for skinny spaghetti

There's spaghettini, vermicelli, cappellini and plain old "thin spaghetti" and angel hair.
I haven't actually seen vermicelli written on a box in years.
It seems to me they're all the same. Does that idea rouse shrieks of horror in anybody's mind?
Any other names for the same thing only different?

John

I haven't seen "vermicelli" lately on the packages of ordinary pasta, but it seems to be commonly used on thin rice noodles in the Asian food section of the food market. Very multicultural, Italian name for Asian rice noodles.

The first three are much thicker than Angel Hair.

I've seen the term vermicelli used in Asian markets for bean thread noodles as well as rice noodles.

-Paul W.

Tagliolini is another, but I suspect there are many others out there (some historical and I dare say one or two brand names out there as well).

regards
Ian

The first three are much thicker than Angel Hair.

Maybe so - but they look the same to me when they're cooked.
John

Linguini and tagliatelle is flat but thin.

I always thought that the translation for cappellini was "angel hair".

I always thought that the translation for cappellini was "angel hair".

So did I, but you can find boxes labeled both ways.
What's interesting is that as far as I can tell, they all fit the same niche of pastas - good with thin sauces, particularly fresh fish or fresh tomatoes and fresh veggies.

Is it true that the rule is, "Thick sauce, thick pasta?"

John <undaunted by the challenge of creating thread drift>

Pasta runs in families. The ones you named -- spaghettini, vermicelli, capellini -- are in the "round rod" family. The "ribbon" pastas comprise ones like fettucine, papperdelle and tagliatelle. Finally, linguini is in a class of its own; it is "flat bulging"; the cross-section is like a tongue (as one might expect).

There are also the small ones (e.g., orzo), the tubular ones (e.g., penne), the stuffed ones (e.g., tortelloni), the irregular ones (e.g., gnocchi), and, finally, the shaped ones (e.g., farfalle, rotelle, orrechiete, trofie).

Oh, so about sizes: angel hair is the finest, then the worms, then the twine.

How does ternetta fit into this? Part of the linguini family?

Last time I checked there were about 1200 names for pasta shapes in Italy alone. So you all can play with this one for a long time.

1200 pasta shapes.
My goodness!
Trying to taste all the pasta shapes would be like trying to taste every California wine.
I'll die sooner or later, I might as well die trying....

John

How does ternetta fit into this? Part of the linguini family?

I've never had ternetta. The internet says it is in the linguini family. Snap one in half and look at the cross-section, if you want to check.