Teedub, You were correct all along. I hope the rest of you make corrections to your terminology (as I also had to) and use the words correctly. Also, make sure to correct your hunting buddies. I'll be you a beer that you could bet them a beer on it and win.
From the Texas Barbque website:
The
tenderloin or
filet, as well as muscle that produces cuts of steak like the
rib-eye and the
t-bone or
porterhouse, comes from tissue that does not get a great deal of the work load. Generally, they come from the back and rib cage area that does not get a lot of work on a regular basis.
From Wikipedia:
Beef tenderloin, or
eye fillet (
New Zealand and
Australia), is cut from the
loin of a steer or heifer. As with all
quadrupeds, the tenderloin refers to the
Psoas major muscle along the central spine portion, which more or less hangs between the shoulder blade and hip socket. This muscle tissue does very little work, so it is the most tender part of the cow. The tenderloin can either be cut for roasts or for steaks.
When left whole, the tenderloin is known as a
fillet or a "
Chateaubriand". When sliced, it forms various
steaks. Those toward the loin end of the piece, when cut into slices one to two inches thick, are known as filets. Sometimes, the cuts are called
filet mignon, while at other times filet mignon refers to a dish made with a beef tenderloin filet, not the cut itself. Other portions of the tenderloin, when cut into steaks, are typically called tenderloin steaks, not filets.