Vacation and Holiday, and other US-UK phrases

[Mashuna]

For me, pretty much any coffee bought in Italy or Spain is good, France mostly OK

This is coffee truth.

[Damien Evans]

Hmm, I have never visited Australia, so common ground may be hard to find, but if Starbucks doesn't rise even as far as acceptable to you, what would you class as good?

For me, pretty much any coffee bought in Italy or Spain is good, France mostly OK

Put it this way. Charbucks used to have over 50 stores in Australia. Now they only have 5.

For some reason they insist on burning their beans to a crisp, it's just overcooked crap.

I'm not that fussed about where you get the beans from really but at least get it right at your end, it's not that hard.

[SpitfireIX]

Someone's going to have to help me here. I spent most of the first twenty years of my life in the UK and speak the language like a native, but I have no idea what the phrase I've bolded might mean. Could it instead have been something like "suck on a fag", said deliberately to provoke a reaction from an American?


After some investigoogling I've discovered that "suck a fag" is an actual British slang expression for "smoke a cigarette," though the number of hits I got suggests it may be far from ubiquitous. Perhaps it's a regionalism, or has fallen out of fashion (the incident in question happened over 20 years ago, BTW). It's also possible that I misunderstood or misremembered, but I doubt it, because I recall being mildly surprised by the usage, as I was already aware that "fag" means "cigarette" in British slang.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Put it this way. Charbucks used to have over 50 stores in Australia. Now they only have 5.

For some reason they insist on burning their beans to a crisp, it's just overcooked crap.

I'm not that fussed about where you get the beans from really but at least get it right at your end, it's not that hard.

They have 26 in Dublin alone, so they are doing better here, and I certainly haven't noticed any particular overcooking compared to anywhere else, either here or in the US. I wouldn't go out of my way to get Starbucks coffee, but wouldn't try hard to avoid them either

[Lensman]

I've never used "suck a fag", I HAVE used "smoke a fag". A cigarette-end is called a "fag-end", but it can also be a "dog-end" for some reason.

OTOH, "fagged-out" doesn't mean out of cigarettes, or smoked-out - it means tired, eg. "I'm fagged-out from all that running."

Tired can also be:-
knackered
shattered
shagged
buggered
whacked
zonked
bollixed/bollocked

Bollocking means to give someone a severe talking to, eg, "The headmaster give me a bollocking for messing around in class."

Bugger-me was used by my mother & aunt as a term of endearment until I explained to them what "bugger" meant. :rolleyes: , eg. "Oi, bugger-me, come & give your auntie a hug."

[jimbob]

After some investigoogling I've discovered that "suck a fag" is an actual British slang expression for "smoke a cigarette," though the number of hits I got suggests it may be far from ubiquitous. Perhaps it's a regionalism, or has fallen out of fashion (the incident in question happened over 20 years ago, BTW). It's also possible that I misunderstood or misremembered, but I doubt it, because I recall being mildly surprised by the usage, as I was already aware that "fag" means "cigarette" in British slang.


Are you sure it wasn't as part of an ISHAC game as described on this (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/I'm_Sorry_I_Haven't_a_Clue#Misleading_Advice) page?

[UnrepentantSinner]

No, no they do not.

As with the music tangent in the other thread you are confusing your opinion with that of everyone else on the planet.

[dafydd]

Erm, the famous American lexicographer was Noah Webster. Daniel Webster was a 19th-century American statesman.


:teacher:

I stand corrected,but you got the gist.

[dafydd]

Chemists.

You don't often find industrial chemists or chemical engineers working in chemist shops, and conversely, you rarely find registered pharmacists working in chemical engineering environments.... unless they are running the dispensary...

:bgrin:

Yes,we're good at spotting differences like that over here.

[dafydd]

Hmm. That "smelt" smells rather fishy to me. :duck:

Smelt? You smelt iron.

[fleabeetle]

??

Although its meaning can easily be glarked from context, this is not a phrase I am familiar with.

I and I is usin' it all the time round here mon Big yourself up (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=big%20up%20yourself)

A colourful expression. Was totally unknown to me (a Brit) until my spending, by force of circumstances, a few months on a distinctly weird scene, half a dozen years ago. The phrase got a considerable amount of use in this milieu. I first heard it, in the company of two associates therein -- both young guys, British-of-Caribbean-extraction.

Has always been a failing of mine, to have terrible trouble with accents -- if it isn't the Queen's English, with old-fashioned BBC-type "received pronunciation", I'm floundering and struggling. As often on this particular scene -- heard the sounds, but had difficulty making sense of them. My companions were advising me to "big myself up" -- found self (attempting to, per arthwollipot, "glark from context"), trying for size, "pick myself up?" -- "bring myself up?". As said, this was a strange scene, with pretty well no limit to the outlandish notions and ways of expressing them, that people on it might come up with. Finally, the matter was sorted out comprehension-wise.

On this same scene, I also heard used "to big up", not just referring to oneself, but as a more general verb, indicating to praise something, or emphasise or show up its good qualities.

[cyborg]

"The cat's whiskers" vs "The dog's bollocks"

[Fitter]

Smelt? You smelt iron.
But you eat smelts.

[Marcus]

My wife (who's American) was convinced that I had made up the English pronunciation of "oregano" purely to toy with her. In fact, I think there's a part of her that still thinks I've just persuaded everybody else to say it like that while she's around as a joke.
I'm curious now, how do you say it?

[arthwollipot]

I'm curious now, how do you say it?In Australia, o-re-GAH-no.

[Marcus]

Just thought of some other differences in spelling - the past tenses of some words:

burnt/burned
spelt/spelled
learnt/learned
smelt/smelled

I think the "T" form of the past tense is a more archaic spelling but I'm not sure. And of course, it still exists on both sides of the pond in words like "slept," "bent," "knelt."
I've noticed that some southern religious types use words like "amongst" and "betwixt" and wondered if they were archaic forms they picked up from reading their bible too much.

[Darat]

I've noticed that some southern religious types use words like "amongst" and "betwixt" and wondered if they were archaic forms they picked up from reading their bible too much.

Whilst you may be correct - some dialects in the UK still retain so-called archaic forms - such as thee and thou and whilst.

[Marcus]

Put it this way. Charbucks used to have over 50 stores in Australia. Now they only have 5.

For some reason they insist on burning their beans to a crisp, it's just overcooked crap.

I'm not that fussed about where you get the beans from really but at least get it right at your end, it's not that hard.
Darker roasts and stronger concentrations are now for everyone, but, like dark beer, once you aquire a taste for stronger flavors, the lighter stuff tastes like water.

[arthwollipot]

So many people use "thee" and "thou" wrong.

[microdot]

Vest and tank top.

In one of the Disney water parks I lost my vest on the lazy river.

When I asked one of the life guards if anyone had handed in a vest he seemed to have no idea what I meant until I described it and he responded 'you mean a tank top'.

In UK tank top is used (IMO) to describe a jumper with no sleeves - NOT something I would choose to wear while swimming :eek:

[Darat]

So many people use "thee" and "thou" wrong.

And "you"....

[arthwollipot]

And "you"....Thou art correct. Allow me to polish thy shoes...

[Mashuna]

So many people use "thee" and "thou" wrong.

Well, I can thee what you mean, but there's no point in thouting about it.

[arthwollipot]

Well, I can thee what you mean, but there's no point in thouting about it.I'm very sorry, but after that, I have to post this:

The Thunder God rode out one night
Upon his fine white filly
"I'm Thor!" he cried, the horse replied,
"Forgot your thaddle, thilly!"

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I
Bugger-me was used by my mother & aunt as a term of endearment until I explained to them what "bugger" meant. :rolleyes: , eg. "Oi, bugger-me, come & give your auntie a hug."

Not 'Buggerlugs' then?

[arthwollipot]

Not 'Buggerlugs' then?No, because it's "Buggalugs".

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Vest and tank top.

In one of the Disney water parks I lost my vest on the lazy river.

When I asked one of the life guards if anyone had handed in a vest he seemed to have no idea what I meant until I described it and he responded 'you mean a tank top'.

In UK tank top is used (IMO) to describe a jumper with no sleeves - NOT something I would choose to wear while swimming :eek:

I'm confused, I always thought that:

Vest (US) = Waistcoat (UK)
Vest(UK)= Wife Beater (US)
Wife Beater (UK)= Stella Artois
Tank Top(UK) = ??(US) = Jumper with no sleeves

None of those things are items one would wear while swimming, so what is the meaning I am missing, and which country was the Disney water park in?

[Guybrush Threepwood]

No, because it's "Buggalugs".

Trial by Google:
Results 1 - 10 of about 120,000 for buggerlugs.
Results 1 - 10 of about 38,900 for buggalugs

Nope, I was 3X as right as you, but apparently you antipodeans have corrupted the word for your own purposes.;)

[fleabeetle]

"The cat's whiskers" vs "The dog's bollocks"

In earlier -- no doubt more prudish -- times, in Britain, I heard, in that sense, "the cat's whiskers". On American side of Atlantic, is not "the cat's meow" used, with same meaning?

I've come across the expression to this effect, concerning the canine male's characteristic equipment, only in fairly recent times over here.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Smelt? You smelt iron.

No you actually smelt iron ore -- Smelting.

You fry and eat the Smelts.

;)

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Thou art correct. Allow me to polish thy shoes...

"thine shoes" surely? :confused:

[microdot]

When I asked one of the life guards if anyone had handed in a vest he seemed to have no idea what I meant until I described it and he responded 'you mean a tank top'.

In UK tank top is used (IMO) to describe a jumper with no sleeves - NOT something I would choose to wear while swimming
I'm confused, I always thought that:

Vest (US) = Waistcoat (UK)
Vest(UK)= Wife Beater (US)
Wife Beater (UK)= Stella Artois
Tank Top(UK) = ??(US) = Jumper with no sleeves

None of those things are items one would wear while swimming, so what is the meaning I am missing, and which country was the Disney water park in?


It's very simple really :rolleyes:

I live in the UK and was wearing what we call a vest in a Disney water park in Florida.

I removed the vest and lay it on the inflatable ring that I was floating in. Subsequently it must have fallen off into the water of the lazy river.

When I described the garment to the life guard HE used the phrase tank top

Hopefully that clears things up for you.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

It's very simple really :rolleyes:

I live in the UK and was wearing what we call a vest in a Disney water park in Florida.

I removed the vest and lay it on the inflatable ring that I was floating in. Subsequently it must have fallen off into the water of the lazy river.

When I described the garment to the life guard HE used the phrase tank top

Hopefully that clears things up for you.

Thanks, I don't wear a vest when I'm swimming, 'cos I'm hard. That must be what confused me.

[Lensman]

Not 'Buggerlugs' then?

That's what I call Jake, my sisters dog. :D

[microdot]

Thanks, I don't wear a vest when I'm swimming, 'cos I'm hard. That must be what confused me.

LOL :D

The weather in the UK includes somewhat less sunshine than that in Florida which means:-

1) Our pale, fair skin burns easily
2) We need to cover up to stop our pale, fair skin from burning
3) We're not used to sunshine so by the time we cover up it's usually too late.

That's why we're so easy to spot on the beach - just look for the lobster-coloured people who walk as if wearing a full body cast ;)

[Agatha]

And socks with sandals. :D

Thy shoes, thine enemy. Thine is used before a vowel, like a boat, an aeroplane.

Sheffielders are known as deedars because they (I say "they" as I moved ten miles south about five years ago) use thee and thou a lot, but use a d sound in place of the th sound, and say thar (dar) instead of thy and thou.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

And socks with sandals. :D

Thy shoes, thine enemy. Thine is used before a vowel, like a boat, an aeroplane.

Sheffielders are known as deedars because they (I say "they" as I moved ten miles south about five years ago) use thee and thou a lot, but use a d sound in place of the th sound, and say thar (dar) instead of thy and thou.

If we are going all olde timee shouldn't it be thy shoon (http://www.thefreedictionary.com/shoon)?

[quadraginta]

I've noticed that some southern religious types use words like "amongst" and "betwixt" and wondered if they were archaic forms they picked up from reading their bible too much.

Whilst you may be correct - some dialects in the UK still retain so-called archaic forms - such as thee and thou and whilst.


More than a few archaic or outdated usages have persisted in rural and regional settings in the U.S. long after the river of common parlance has flowed well past them elsewhere. "Southern" and "religious" can coincidental features, but they are far from prerequisites.

Earlier in this thread someone mentioned the use of "reckon" in certain parts of England. I reflected upon this with some amusement as it is a term I still use without thinking today (e.g.; "I reckon so."), even though it sounds odd to the ears of many flatlanders. Until I moved out of the mountains years ago I had no reason to think it remarkable.

Quite a bit of what has come to be considered "bad" English in the U.S. is actually well preserved language which no longer fits the preconceptions of people fooled into thinking that "received" English is "correct". Quite the contrary. It could be argued that by virtue of centuries of precedence the older terms are the "right " ones.

I reckon.

[Pope130]

Earlier in this thread someone mentioned the use of "reckon" in certain parts of England. I reflected upon this with some amusement as it is a term I still use without thinking today (e.g.; "I reckon so."), even though it sounds odd to the ears of many flatlanders. Until I moved out of the mountains years ago I had no reason to think it remarkable.


Reckon is also still a common word in American Military English (to coin a term). "Dead reckoning" is taught in navigation, a Crew Chief might use the phrase "I reckon it'll be fine for one more flight." An inquiry as to your estimate of conditions is commonly phrased "What do you reckon?". That last is usually pronounced as one word: "Whaddayareckon?". And, of course, "I reckon so." is a common phrase.

I think in the Air Force this has a lot to do with Chuck Yeager. He is the role model for the pilot who is cool under pressure. His West Virginia accent has spread throughout the flying community.

Robert

[ZirconBlue]

One I just noticed when placing an order online:

"Expiration Date" (US) vs. "Expiry Date" (some nonspecific location in Europe)

[quadraginta]

Reckon is also still a common word in American Military English (to coin a term). "Dead reckoning" is taught in navigation, a Crew Chief might use the phrase "I reckon it'll be fine for one more flight." An inquiry as to your estimate of conditions is commonly phrased "What do you reckon?". That last is usually pronounced as one word: "Whaddayareckon?". And, of course, "I reckon so." is a common phrase.

I think in the Air Force this has a lot to do with Chuck Yeager. He is the role model for the pilot who is cool under pressure. His West Virginia accent has spread throughout the flying community.

Robert

As well it should. :D

I am not making this up, but I can provide no attribution. Some while back I ran across an article which mentioned that people from West Virginia were among the most popular for jobs which involved telephone supplied services. In addition to clarity they also seemed to come across as the friendliest. ;)

[Marcus]

It's very simple really :rolleyes:

I live in the UK and was wearing what we call a vest in a Disney water park in Florida.

I removed the vest and lay it on the inflatable ring that I was floating in. Subsequently it must have fallen off into the water of the lazy river.

When I described the garment to the life guard HE used the phrase tank top

Hopefully that clears things up for you.
It's still a bit confusing. If you removed your tank top you would be topless (bare breasted), which is fine with me, you probably wouldn't wear something underneath that type or garment. Perhaps you were referring to a life vest, which provides flotation, in which case the lifeguard could have come from some third country.:)

[Marcus]

And socks with sandals. :D

Ah yes, an affectation of some immigrants from the northern states that provokes no end of amusement here in the south.

[Marcus]

I reckon.
Still a common term among those who speak with southern accents. Such accents are fairly uncommon as a percentage of the population in Texas, where most of the population is confined to large cities.

[Rogue1stclass]

I can see the vest/tank top (more correctly called an A Shirt) evolution, as they are both sleeveless, but in the US a vest is exclusively an outer garment generally worn over a shirt. Unless you are biker.

And by biker I mean a person in a certain subculture centered around motorcycles, not a guy who rides a bicycle.

[Jeff Corey]

I knew something smelt fishy.

[Elizabeth I]

Do you still "fill up" questionnaires in GB?

In the states, it's mostly "fill out" questionnaires.

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I knew something smelt fishy.

Probably iron ore. :duck:

[wollery]

Do you still "fill up" questionnaires in GB?

In the states, it's mostly "fill out" questionnaires.To the best of my knowledge nobody ever used "fill up" in such a context.

I've certainly never heard it.

"Fill in" sometimes, but usually "fill out".

[Elizabeth I]

To the best of my knowledge nobody ever used "fill up" in such a context.

I've certainly never heard it.

"Fill in" sometimes, but usually "fill out".

Hm. I've read it in books by British authors - the only one coming to mind at the moment is one by mystery writer Dorothy Sayers.

Oh, well.

What about "tick" as opposed to "check" mark?

[wollery]

Hm. I've read it in books by British authors - the only one coming to mind at the moment is one by mystery writer Dorothy Sayers.

Oh, well.

What about "tick" as opposed to "check" mark?Tick marks are common usage.

I googled "fill up a questionnaire", and the first page had a website saying that you can't use it, a US website using it, and some East Asian and Indian websites. Not a single UK listing so far.

Seems it may be an Indian English phrase that's spread East.

[microdot]

It's still a bit confusing. If you removed your tank top you would be topless (bare breasted), which is fine with me, you probably wouldn't wear something underneath that type or garment. Perhaps you were referring to a life vest, which provides flotation, in which case the lifeguard could have come from some third country.

In UK a vest is normally an undergarment - worn under a shirt.

In warm weather a vest may be worn as an alternative to a t-shirt as it offers increased airflow to keep one cool.

[Damien Evans]

As with the music tangent in the other thread you are confusing your opinion with that of everyone else on the planet.

No, just Australia. Otherwise, why would they have closed 90% of their stores here?

[Damien Evans]

Darker roasts and stronger concentrations are now for everyone, but, like dark beer, once you aquire a taste for stronger flavors, the lighter stuff tastes like water.

Ah, but that's different to what I'm talking about. What I'm referring to is plain old over-roasting.

[UnrepentantSinner]

No, just Australia. Otherwise, why would they have closed 90% of their stores here?

Anti-Americanism?

[wollery]

Anti-Americanism?What? No, surely not, everyone loves America!

[Information Analyst]

That's just Yorkshire folk for you:

Yorkshire Born, Yorkshire Bred, Strong in't arm and thick in't head


"Never ask an Englishman where he is from. If he is from Yorkshire, he will tell you. If he is not, it is unfair to embarrass him."

[Information Analyst]

My wife (who's American) was convinced that I had made up the English pronunciation of "oregano" purely to toy with her. In fact, I think there's a part of her that still thinks I've just persuaded everybody else to say it like that while she's around as a joke.
One doesn't have to go far for such suspicions. My Kentish wife was convinced that I was making up the Yorkshire/northern "pikelet" for "crumpet" until she rang my mother to check.

[Jeff Corey]

Ah, but that's different to what I'm talking about. What I'm referring to is plain old over-roasting.

That's another one. We would say, "...that's different from what I'm talking about."
Sorry if that's been pointed out before.

[Darat]

One doesn't have to go far for such suspicions. My Kentish wife was convinced that I was making up the Yorkshire/northern "pikelet" for "crumpet" until she rang my mother to check.

Pikelets are not as thick as crumpets....

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Pikelets are not as thick as crumpets....

Crumpetist!

[Darat]

Oh I see we have a pikeletist amongst us, I thought they were all burnt at the stake after their failed 1634 uprising.

[wollery]

That's another one. We would say, "...that's different from what I'm talking about."
Sorry if that's been pointed out before.Different from, similar to.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Different from, similar to.

Hmm.. that's different than the way I learned it.

[microdot]

My Kentish wife was convinced that I was making up the Yorkshire/northern "pikelet" for "crumpet" until she rang my mother to check.

My wife hails from Cumbria and I'm from Lancashire.

The first time I asked her to get me a barm cake she thought I was pulling her leg (I was going to say she thought I was a barm-pot but she wouldn't have heard of that expression at the time either).

Where she's from they're called tea cakes or buns it seems, but surely everyone knows that buns are cakes, aren't they?

:D

[catbasket]

My Kentish wife was convinced that I was making up the Yorkshire/northern "pikelet" for "crumpet" until she rang my mother to check.

I remember the term "pikelet" being used in south Wales when I were a nipper, but for something slightly different from a crumpet.

Pikelets are not as thick as crumpets....
I vaguely recall pikelets as being more like a Welshcake in size, but similar to a crumpet in taste (Welshcakes are sweet rather than savoury).

Of course, not everyone would have made these wonderful foodstuffs to the same size and recipe as my mum did. She was right, all you lot are wrong. La-la-la I can't hear you.

[Darat]

Pikelets - which my GRAN used to make (so that trumps a mum) are made from the same recipe as a crumpet but made with less stuff on a griddle so are more like a scotch pancake in size and thickness.

[monoman]

It's very simple really :rolleyes:

I live in the UK and was wearing what we call a vest in a Disney water park in Florida.

I removed the vest and lay it on the inflatable ring that I was floating in. Subsequently it must have fallen off into the water of the lazy river.

When I described the garment to the life guard HE used the phrase tank top

Hopefully that clears things up for you.

Along with this is that life-vest (us) = life-jacket (uk).

Which leads me to the American pronunciation of buoy. I know we don't pronounce it as written in the uk, but booee? That's taking the michael!

[Aitch]

That's just Yorkshire folk for you:

Yorkshire Born, Yorkshire Bred, Strong in't arm and thick in't head

Or, to put it another way, "you can always tell a Yorkshireman; you just can't tell him very much." ;)

[Jeff Corey]

Along with this is that life-vest (us) = life-jacket (uk)...

I've heard "life jacket" much more frequently than "life vest" here in New England and New York.

[SpitfireIX]

I've heard "life jacket" much more frequently than "life vest" here in New England and New York.


Same here in the Midwest. "Life preserver" is also used, though this refers to floatation devices in general, including rings and floating seat cushions.

[Aitch]

Same here in the Midwest. "Life preserver" is also used, though this refers to floatation devices in general, including rings and floating seat cushions.

Last time I saw a reference to a life preserver was in a crime novel and it meant a cosh of some kind. :confused:

[Jeff Corey]

Last time I saw a reference to a life preserver was in a crime novel and it meant a cosh of some kind. :confused:

What's a hyperbolic cosine doing in a crime novel?

[Pope130]

Along with this is that life-vest (us) = life-jacket (uk).


In American it's a bit more complex than that. It's common to refer to the same item as a "life jacket" or a "flotation vest". Airline safety briefings will usually use both terms to minimise confusion.

Robert

[Information Analyst]

Pikelets are not as thick as crumpets....
You're thinking of the "other" pikelets, which are indeed thinner than crumpets and don't have the holes, but in East Yorkshire we called regular crumpets "pikelets." A quick Google shows this usage to be a bit wider spread.

[SpitfireIX]

Last time I saw a reference to a life preserver was in a crime novel and it meant a cosh of some kind. :confused:


Maths jokes aside, that's presumably underworld slang. From The Pirates of Penzance:

Here’s your crowbar and your centrebit,
Your life-preserver – you may want to hit!
Your silent matches, your dark lantern seize,
Take your file and your skeletonic keys.


All the times I've listened to my Best of G&S CD, and I never picked up on that. :o

[SpitfireIX]

Along those same lines, we have "lifeguard" and "lifesaver". I find this one particularly amusing, because in the UK a Life Guard is a member of the senior regiment of Her Majesty's household cavalry, and in the US (and Canada) a Life Saver is a type of sweet candy. Though I see that "lifeguard" appears to be catching on in the UK; evidently the Royal Life Saving Society (http://www.lifesavers.org.uk/) is using it now. Maybe Baywatch reruns are really popular in the UK. :)

[Jeff Corey]

Along those same lines, we have "lifeguard" and "lifesaver". I find this one particularly amusing, because in the UK a Life Guard is a member of the senior regiment of Her Majesty's household cavalry, and in the US (and Canada) a Life Saver is a type of sweet candy. Though I see that "lifeguard" appears to be catching on in the UK; evidently the Royal Life Saving Society (http://www.lifesavers.org.uk/) is using it now. Maybe Baywatch reruns are really popular in the UK. :)

The shape of the Life Savers candy was based on the shape of lifesavers - personal flotation devices - found on watercraft. http://www.sixthman.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/lifesaver.JPG

[jimbob]

Maths jokes aside, that's presumably underworld slang. From The Pirates of Penzance:




All the times I've listened to my Best of G&S CD, and I never picked up on that. :o

I have read it in books written by people who were adults before the 1940's etc, but apart from the Pirates of Penzance I have never heard it.


...My kids have been singing most of the songs for most of the "summer", since doing a performance at the end of July, so I am particularly familiar with those verses...

[quadraginta]

One doesn't have to go far for such suspicions. My Kentish wife was convinced that I was making up the Yorkshire/northern "pikelet" for "crumpet" until she rang my mother to check.


This is another usage I don't think is very common here in the U.S. We'd say "called my mother".

It probably wouldn't create much confusion, but that's because of all the great BBC sitcoms we get to copy share.

[zooterkin]

Dived v. dove as the past tense of dive is another one. I remember being very confused the first time I saw "dove" meaning something other than a bird like a pigeon.

[simonmaal]

Sorry but utter b*llocks, some people may get them mixed up but after working all over the country, no more than any other working class area.

Not so - the North East term "learn" is actually a variation on the Anglo Saxon term "laeren", meaning to teach. Pronounced in a North East dialect, the word "learn" is often pronounce as "larn", thus having more in common with the root word than "learn".

So to "larn" someone something does indeed mean to teach them.

[Rogue1stclass]

I have heard "learn" for "teach" in the Southern US, most commonly after someone does something stupid and gets hurt.

"That'll learn'im!"

[Darat]

You're thinking of the "other" pikelets, which are indeed thinner than crumpets and don't have the holes,

...snip...

I think you are describing scotch pancakes?



but in East Yorkshire we called regular crumpets "pikelets." A quick Google shows this usage to be a bit wider spread.

Pikelets, like crumpets have holes and the recipe for both should be the same - the difference is in the cooking, to cook a pikelet you just drop a large dollop onto a griddle (like a scotch pancake) and because it is the same recipe as crumpets you get a similar effect in regards to the holes. Crumpets, being thicker, require a ring to cook, otherwise you'd just end up with a bloody big pikelet as the mixture spreads out.

I know this to be 100% accurate because my gran told me. In regards to Yorkshire folks apparent confusion about this very important issue I refer the honourable Member to my answer in this post (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=5051580#post5051580).




;)

[Flashman]

Happen it's an East Yorkshire thing, in West Yorks a pikelet is a scrawny crumpet as described by Darat.


I wonder why Americans say "I could care less" when in fact they mean "I couldn't care less"

[dafydd]

Happen it's an East Yorkshire thing, in West Yorks a pikelet is a scrawny crumpet as described by Darat.


I wonder why Americans say "I could care less" when in fact they mean "I couldn't care less"

Thin crumpets are called pikelets in South Wales too.

[SpitfireIX]

Happen it's an East Yorkshire thing, in West Yorks a pikelet is a scrawny crumpet as described by Darat.


I wonder why Americans say "I could care less" when in fact they mean "I couldn't care less"


Actually one hears both here. "I could care less" was originally spoken in a sarcastic tone, but over time that aspect of the usage seems to have faded.

[Jeff Corey]

Actually one hears both here. "I could care less" was originally spoken in a sarcastic tone, but over time that aspect of the usage seems to have faded.
At least it is not, "It don't make me no never mind." The first time I heared thata one, I was plumb befoozled.

[Elizabeth I]

I wonder why Americans say "I could care less" when in fact they mean "I couldn't care less"

Ignorance. And it drives me crazy. But that's for another thread.

[quadraginta]

Ignorance. And it drives me crazy. But that's for another thread.


Using myself by way of example, whenever I find myself on the verge of criticizing someone else's speech patterns or dialect I try to reflect carefully on my own.

Usually this is sufficient to stifle any errant feelings of superiority.

[UnrepentantSinner]

I wonder why Americans say "I could care less" when in fact they mean "I couldn't care less"

Because not enough of us have the cajones to smack them in the head when they do so.

[NoZed Avenger]

Because not enough of us have the cajones to smack them in the head when they do so.

Frankly, I am not smacking anyone in the head with my cajones, no matter how beyond the pale their speech is.

[zooterkin]

Because not enough of us have the cajones to smack them in the head when they do so.

Cojones, surely?

[UnrepentantSinner]

Cojones, surely?

I was using the pheonetic for non-Spanish speakers.

[arthwollipot]

Along with this is that life-vest (us) = life-jacket (uk).

Which leads me to the American pronunciation of buoy. I know we don't pronounce it as written in the uk, but booee? That's taking the michael!That reminds me. In America, they eat at "Mickey Dee". We have Maccas.

[Elizabeth I]

Using myself by way of example, whenever I find myself on the verge of criticizing someone else's speech patterns or dialect I try to reflect carefully on my own.

Usually this is sufficient to stifle any errant feelings of superiority.

Too bad it doesn't work for imaginary moral superiority, then. Or pomposity.

[Fitter]

That reminds me. In America, they eat at "Mickey Dee". We have Maccas.
And in Canada it is Rotten Ronnie's.

[Aitch]

Which leads me to the American pronunciation of buoy. I know we don't pronounce it as written in the uk, but booee? That's taking the michael!


I caught an episode of Numb3rs the other night (I think Five-US has the first couple of series on a loop), the one with the bird-flu infected Chinese illegal immigrants.

In one scene two characters (I think it was Charlie and Amita) were discussing a number of buoys they were using to map currents. They used both pronunciations - one each! Wonder why that was?

[Gord_in_Toronto]

I caught an episode of Numb3rs the other night (I think Five-US has the first couple of series on a loop), the one with the bird-flu infected Chinese illegal immigrants.

In one scene two characters (I think it was Charlie and Amita) were discussing a number of buoys they were using to map currents. They used both pronunciations - one each! Wonder why that was?

International market?

[Aitch]

International market?

Possibly. Or maybe they were humouring the Scott brothers, who executive produced it (and come from the North East of England)?

[Pope130]

I caught an episode of Numb3rs the other night (I think Five-US has the first couple of series on a loop), the one with the bird-flu infected Chinese illegal immigrants.

In one scene two characters (I think it was Charlie and Amita) were discussing a number of buoys they were using to map currents. They used both pronunciations - one each! Wonder why that was?

In the show the character Amita is from India, so should speak English, with an Indian accent. Charlie speaks American with a California accent. It's a wonder they can communicate at all.

Amita's accent has not been entirely consistent, but is quite pleasant when it appears.

Robert

[jimbob]

And in Canada it is Rotten Ronnie's.

I've heard a similar company's product described as "Unlucky Fried Kitten" (UFK)

[UnrepentantSinner]

In one scene two characters (I think it was Charlie and Amita) were discussing a number of buoys they were using to map currents. They used both pronunciations - one each! Wonder why that was?

I just realized I use "booee" when referring to them, but still call the soap "Lifeboy" like the commercials did years ago.

[zooterkin]

I was using the pheonetic for non-Spanish speakers.

Bollocks. That's what I'd use when speaking to a non-Spanish speaker anyway :) Another of those words that didn't make it across the Atlantic.

(If you really were attempting a phonetic representation, wouldn't "cahonies" be closer?)

[UnrepentantSinner]

Bollocks. That's what I'd use when speaking to a non-Spanish speaker anyway :) Another of those words that didn't make it across the Atlantic.

(If you really were attempting a phonetic representation, wouldn't "cahonies" be closer?)

Are you familiar with Spanlish? If so, I should have gone with that rather than phoenetic.

Or maybe I should have gone with huevos in the first post.. or perhaps chutzpah.

All this talk is making me beau coup dinky dao.

[Damien Evans]

Anti-Americanism?

Possible, though unlikely.

While there is Anti-Americanism here, it's in pretty small numbers as far as actual America hatred goes. That sort of thing is restricted to a couple of radical green and socialist groups.

Having said that, most Aussies are perfectly happy to make fun of America if given the chance.



ETA: As far as making fun of, you could also substitute any other country name for America there. Including Australia.

[arthwollipot]

What about "bonk"? Do Americans use the word "bonk" to refer to sex?

Note - not "boink", "bonk".

The reason I ask is that I went to iTunes to find the Big Pig album Bonk (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=213616293&s=143460), and I discovered that it was listed as "B**k".

[Elaedith]

Hi there, how do you do? I'm Randy.

[arthwollipot]

Hi there, how do you do? I'm Randy.Oh really??? :rolleyes:

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Oh really??? :rolleyes:

Aren't we all my dear child? Aren't we all? :crowded:

Party on dudes and dudettes. :mpony

[Jeff Corey]

What about "bonk"? Do Americans use the word "bonk" to refer to sex?

Note - not "boink", "bonk".

The reason I ask is that I went to iTunes to find the Big Pig album Bonk (http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?id=213616293&s=143460), and I discovered that it was listed as "B**k".

Yes.
"bonk
Verb
Informal
1. to have sexual intercourse
2. to hit [probably imitative]"

[Ambrosia]

I think you are describing scotch pancakes?



Pikelets, like crumpets have holes and the recipe for both should be the same - the difference is in the cooking, to cook a pikelet you just drop a large dollop onto a griddle (like a scotch pancake) and because it is the same recipe as crumpets you get a similar effect in regards to the holes. Crumpets, being thicker, require a ring to cook, otherwise you'd just end up with a bloody big pikelet as the mixture spreads out.

This is correct.

Pikelets/Scotch Pancakes Crumpets Welsh Cakes and Muffins are all cooked in a similar fashion on a griddle.

American pancakes, a la stacked up with maple syrup are simply large pikelets.

English pancakes are much closer to crepes.

Scotch pancakes/crumpets are made with a batter mixture, usually raised with a chemical raising agent (bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar) though sometimes with yeast. (English pancakes have no raising agent) Waffles are almost exactly the same mixture as pikelets/and crumpets, only cooked in a waffle iron.

Welsh Cakes and Muffins (English muffins that is) are made with something very similar to a white bread dough, using strong flour (high gluten) and yeast as a raising agent. Each side of which is griddled until golden brown and the product is baked through.

Welsh cakes are thinner and contain fruit (usually raisins) to sweeten them a little.

American muffins are just oversized fairy cakes or cup cakes. Tho in recent years the term muffin is more ubiquitous with what americans would recognise as a muffin.

I have heard people use crumpets and (English) muffins interchangeably, which is well confusing.

I mean you can't have your eggs benedict in the mornings on a crumpet, or some horrible sweet thing adulterated with blueberries, it's just not cricket.

[Darat]

This is correct.

Pikelets/Scotch Pancakes Crumpets Welsh Cakes and Muffins are all cooked in a similar fashion on a griddle.

American pancakes, a la stacked up with maple syrup are simply large pikelets.

...snip..

What Americans serve as "pancakes" are more or less what we call scotch pancakes, which are not the same as pikelets.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

I mean you can't have your eggs benedict in the mornings on a crumpet.

If you haven't tried it, you should. I think it's actually better than the original;)

[Ambrosia]

otherwise you'd just end up with a bloody big pikelet as the mixture spreads out.

What Americans serve as "pancakes" are more or less what we call scotch pancakes, which are not the same as pikelets.

Very very similar, at least in my experience, but I will defer to your greater experience, not having ever eaten pancakes in America.

If you haven't tried it, you should. I think it's actually better than the original;)

YMMV :)

I find that the raising agent in the crumpet (bicarb etc) gives the crumpets a slight tang, which clashes nastily with the vinegar reduction in the hollondaise, and that a muffin is fluffier textured and absorbs both the sauce and the runny egg yolk better than a crumpet does.

[Jeff Corey]

What Americans serve as "pancakes" are more or less what we call scotch pancakes, which are not the same as pikelets.

Except we typically don't put much scotch in them.

[dafydd]

This is correct.

Pikelets/Scotch Pancakes Crumpets Welsh Cakes and Muffins are all cooked in a similar fashion on a griddle.

American pancakes, a la stacked up with maple syrup are simply large pikelets.

English pancakes are much closer to crepes.

Scotch pancakes/crumpets are made with a batter mixture, usually raised with a chemical raising agent (bicarbonate of soda and cream of tartar) though sometimes with yeast. (English pancakes have no raising agent) Waffles are almost exactly the same mixture as pikelets/and crumpets, only cooked in a waffle iron.

Welsh Cakes and Muffins (English muffins that is) are made with something very similar to a white bread dough, using strong flour (high gluten) and yeast as a raising agent. Each side of which is griddled until golden brown and the product is baked through.

Welsh cakes are thinner and contain fruit (usually raisins) to sweeten them a little.

American muffins are just oversized fairy cakes or cup cakes. Tho in recent years the term muffin is more ubiquitous with what americans would recognise as a muffin.

I have heard people use crumpets and (English) muffins interchangeably, which is well confusing.

I mean you can't have your eggs benedict in the mornings on a crumpet, or some horrible sweet thing adulterated with blueberries, it's just not cricket.

My favourite pancakes are crempog,Welsh pancakes made with buttermilk and cream of tartar.
http://www.recipehound.com/Recipes/1187.html

[Damien Evans]

Except we typically don't put much scotch in them.

so doing that next time I make Pancakes.:D

[patchbunny]

so doing that next time I make Pancakes.:D

Lilek's book The Gallery of Regrettable Food (http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/) had a page from a cookbook with a recipe for pancakes made with refreshing 7-up.

[jimbob]

Lilek's book The Gallery of Regrettable Food (http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/) had a page from a cookbook with a recipe for pancakes made with refreshing 7-up.

I *think* the response to that link is "thank you"

[Gord_in_Toronto]

drawing pin vs thumb tack

tannoy vs ??

[six7s]

tannoy vs ??Hever (http://liff.hivemind.net/#H)

:p

[SpitfireIX]

tannoy vs ??


"Loudspeaker" or "public-address system" (aka "PA system" or simply "PA"). Also called "1MC" (for main circuit) aboard US Navy vessels. Not sure if this is also used by the US Coast Guard.

That reminds me of another really good one: Loud-hailer vs. bullhorn. :D

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Hever (http://liff.hivemind.net/#H)

:p

Bin there. Done that. "Strain leefing from zlatform isfteen is fur Zullforth and zu snorth shure" :confused:

[six7s]

Bin there. Done that. "Strain leefing from zlatform isfteen is fur Zullforth and zu snorth shure" :confused:Makollig Jezvahted and Levdaroum DeBahzted, please go to the airport information desk (http://www.netjeff.com/humor/audio/AirportPrank.html)

;)

[Marcus]

My wife hails from Cumbria and I'm from Lancashire.

The first time I asked her to get me a barm cake she thought I was pulling her leg (I was going to say she thought I was a barm-pot but she wouldn't have heard of that expression at the time either).

Where she's from they're called tea cakes or buns it seems, but surely everyone knows that buns are cakes, aren't they?

:D
I'm not quite sure what these words mean in the UK, or if their meaning changes if they are not associated with tea, but here buns, cakes, cookies, crackers and biscuits are completely different items, the only similarity being in their use of flour. And rarely would any of them be served with tea.:) On a related subject, what exactly is a crisp anyway? Is it a potato chip, a fried potato, any fried snack, all of the above? Do you have bags that say "potato crisps" rather than "potato chips"? All earth shaking issues.

[arthwollipot]

Yes.
"bonk
Verb
Informal
1. to have sexual intercourse
2. to hit [probably imitative]"Nice dictionary definition :)... is it used in common speech at all?

[six7s]

On a related subject, what exactly is a crisp anyway?Crisp (n):
a savoury tart with a rather sharp after-taste that those with conservative appetites find rather hard to swallow. Often served in the stately homos of England

[six7s]

Nice dictionary definition :)... is it used in common speech at all?Erm.... Yes...

I saw Big Pig live in '88 at a free gig on Bondi Beach (part of the bicentennial celebrations?) and the album name was, I think, universally (amongst those I knew in Sydney at the time) interpreted as having subtly sexual references

See also: www.penguin.com.au Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Sex & Science (http://www.penguin.com.au/lookinside/spotlight.cfm?SBN=9781921351549&Page=Details)


Authors: Roach Mary

The study of sexual physiology - what happens, and why, and how to make it happen better - has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci, James Watson and Napoleon Bonaparte's great grand-niece Marie.

The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centres, pig farms, sex-toy R & D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic. Mary Roach has devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. The result is Bonk - everything you wanted to know about sex but couldn't imagine that someone in a white lab coat had studied.

Few things are as fundamental to human happiness as satisfying sex. Bonk is both an ode to a fascinating and vital pursuit and a reminder that there is still much to learn. Sexual arousal and orgasm are two of the most complex, delightful, utterly amazing scientific phenomena on earth. Sexology, as Roach approaches it, is right up there too.

[wollery]

I'm not quite sure what these words mean in the UK, or if their meaning changes if they are not associated with tea, but here buns, cakes, cookies, crackers and biscuits are completely different items, the only similarity being in their use of flour. And rarely would any of them be served with tea.:) The meaning changes depending on location and context. For instance, the word 'cake' on its own almost always signifies some sort of Victoria sponge, but in parts of the UK the word 'cake', in combination with other words can signify bread products (e.g. barm cake).

On a related subject, what exactly is a crisp anyway? Is it a potato chip, a fried potato, any fried snack, all of the above? Do you have bags that say "potato crisps" rather than "potato chips"? All earth shaking issues.A crisp is what you 'Merkins call a potato chip, and a chip is what you'd call a French fry. This is, to the best of my knowledge, the same in all parts of the UK.

[arthwollipot]

Erm.... Yes... I meant in America.

[Aitch]

Nice dictionary definition :)... is it used in common speech at all?

Another, less formal, definition:

Young Bridesmaid: What's bonking?
Scarlett: Well, it's kinda like table tennis, only with slightly smaller balls.


©Richard Curtis

[Information Analyst]

I think you are describing scotch pancakes?
I was describing there what seems to be more widely referred to as a "pikelet," e.g.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25056484@N00/2921345042

However, I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I never saw anything like that during my childhood at all, let alone heard one being called a "pikelet."

Pikelets, like crumpets have holes and the recipe for both should be the same - the difference is in the cooking, to cook a pikelet you just drop a large dollop onto a griddle (like a scotch pancake) and because it is the same recipe as crumpets you get a similar effect in regards to the holes. Crumpets, being thicker, require a ring to cook, otherwise you'd just end up with a bloody big pikelet as the mixture spreads out.

I know this to be 100% accurate because my gran told me.
You're missing the point. In yorkshire (and, it seems, other bits of the north) crumpets - the sort formed with a ring, as you describe - get (or got) called "pikelets." It may be that it was a catch-all covering both crumpets and "proper" pikelets, but I was only ever aware of the former. It's a regional language variation, pure and simple. E.g.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanchett/516063233/

So obviously it's not just me. And it's no more "wrong" than - as someone else referred to - a bread cake being called a "barm cake" in the north-west.
In regards to Yorkshire folks apparent confusion about this very important issue I refer the honourable Member to my answer in this post (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?postid=5051580#post5051580). ;)
Hmmm....

[Darat]

I was describing there what seems to be more widely referred to as a "pikelet," e.g.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25056484@N00/2921345042

...snip...

Well the underside of a pikelet (and a crumpet) can look like a scotch pancake so it may be the holes are on the side not showing in the photo.


However, I think I can say with a fair degree of certainty that I never saw anything like that during my childhood at all, let alone heard one being called a "pikelet."


Neither can I - the photo appears to be scotch pancake or some very close relative rather than a pikelet.


You're missing the point. In yorkshire (and, it seems, other bits of the north) crumpets - the sort formed with a ring, as you describe - get (or got) called "pikelets." It may be that it was a catch-all covering both crumpets and "proper" pikelets, but I was only ever aware of the former. It's a regional language variation, pure and simple. E.g.:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vanchett/516063233/

So obviously it's not just me. And it's no more "wrong" than - as someone else referred to - a bread cake being called a "barm cake" in the north-west.

Hmmm....

It is you that is missing the point - my gran said that pikelets are flat crumpets, that Yorkshire folk are confused about this is hardly surprising!

[Darat]

...snip...

So obviously it's not just me. And it's no more "wrong" than - as someone else referred to - a bread cake being called a "barm cake" in the north-west.

Hmmm....


And on this one - it is a barm cake, again that is what my gran called them, anyone calling them a "bread cake" is just barmy.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

...scotch pancake ....



... scotch pancake ....



While you are obviously not completely beyond the pale, as you have your Pikelets and Crumpets straight, I think it should be pointed out that the real name of the quoted items is 'drop scone' ;)

[dafydd]

And on this one - it is a barm cake, again that is what my gran called them, anyone calling them a "bread cake" is just barmy.

Barm cakes are Barnbracks in Northern Ireland,I believe.

[dafydd]

In Wales the pikelets do not have holes in them.

Here are some pics of pikelets

http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/pikelets%20small3.jpg

http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/13/pikelets_2.jpg

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Barm cakes are Barnbracks in Northern Ireland,I believe.


Nononono.. barnbrack is more like Tea Bread

[dafydd]

While you are obviously not completely beyond the pale, as you have your Pikelets and Crumpets straight, I think it should be pointed out that the real name of the quoted items is 'drop scone' ;)

No.
Drop scones look like these

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2251/2526861238_5fbb590939_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3396939609_975c6615b5.jpg?v=0

[Guybrush Threepwood]

No.
Drop scones look like these


I've no idea what those things are, and hope to god I never find out. This is the recipe for drop scones (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/oct/21/recipes.foodanddrink1) . And if Shug says it, it must be true so there...

[dafydd]

I've no idea what those things are, and hope to god I never find out. This is the recipe for drop scones (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/oct/21/recipes.foodanddrink1) . And if Shug says it, it must be true so there...

We will agree to disagree.Any relation to Freddie Threepwood?

[Guybrush Threepwood]

We will agree to disagree.Any relation to Freddie Threepwood?

Fair enough, and nope, not as far as I am aware, although I expect that minor English aristocracy would want to keep any association with one of the fiercest pirates of the south seas quiet, so there may be an unknown connection.

[zooterkin]

In Wales the pikelets do not have holes in them.

Here are some pics of pikelets

http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/pikelets%20small3.jpg

http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/13/pikelets_2.jpg

No, those are scotch pancakes (or drop scones).

[Jeff Corey]

Nice dictionary definition :)... is it used in common speech at all?

Yes, at least enough for people to recognize it in context and discriminate it from the other meaning of the word.
Same with "pork".

[Ambrosia]

No.
Drop scones look like these

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2251/2526861238_5fbb590939_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3396939609_975c6615b5.jpg?v=0

er no...

Drop scones, are what *my gran* who was Irish, called scotch pancakes.

Those pictures are of rock cakes.

A pikelet is the same mixture as a drop scone/scotch pancake/crumpet cooked like a crumpet inside of a ring so that the raising agent causes the item to grow thicker as opposed to more spread out.

When you cook a crumpet you only cook the underside on a low heat until the item is cooked through, this leaves you with the characteristic holes in the top.

When you cook a pikelet you flip it over midway through cooking, and also cook it on a slightly higher heat. You get a product that has a solid top/bottom and has larger holes inside it than a scotch pancake/drop scone.

or you dispense with the ring and cook them like drop scones, and just call them pikelets.

It depends on how your Gran was taught to go about making them and which celtic region she originates from I think.

Whichever way you slice it those are not drop scones in those there photos, they are most definitely rock cakes.

[Fiona]

While you are obviously not completely beyond the pale, as you have your Pikelets and Crumpets straight, I think it should be pointed out that the real name of the quoted items is 'drop scone' ;)


No. They are called pancakes. Not scotch pancakes. Not dropped scones. Just pancakes

[Fiona]

No.
Drop scones look like these

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2251/2526861238_5fbb590939_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3620/3396939609_975c6615b5.jpg?v=0

Those are possibly scones or more likely rock buns

[Darat]

It's no wonder we spent 2000 years clobbering each other!

[Guybrush Threepwood]

er no...

Drop scones, are what *my gran* who was Irish, called scotch pancakes.

Those pictures are of rock cakes.

A pikelet is the same mixture as a drop scone/scotch pancake/crumpet cooked like a crumpet inside of a ring so that the raising agent causes the item to grow thicker as opposed to more spread out.

When you cook a crumpet you only cook the underside on a low heat until the item is cooked through, this leaves you with the characteristic holes in the top.

When you cook a pikelet you flip it over midway through cooking, and also cook it on a slightly higher heat. You get a product that has a solid top/bottom and has larger holes inside it than a scotch pancake/drop scone.

or you dispense with the ring and cook them like drop scones, and just call them pikelets.

It depends on how your Gran was taught to go about making them and which celtic region she originates from I think.

Whichever way you slice it those are not drop scones in those there photos, they are most definitely rock cakes.

I thought of calling them rock cakes in my reply, as the top ones do look fairly rock cakey, except with no visible currants, however the bottom ones look like nothing I've ever seen, except possibly specimens of fossilized dinosoaur poop from an animal that died of terminal haemorrhoids, so I assumed they were some Welsh 'delicacy' unknown outside the principality.

[Ambrosia]

these are scones.

http://thenovicebaker.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/scones.jpg

Apparently these are called biscuits in the US (??)

And what are biscuits over here are called cookies over there, whereas a cookie is a particular type of biscuit over here.

Biscuits were originally "twice cooked" pastries that made them crunchier, and also gave them a longer shelf life.

The dough used for making scones is similar to that for drop scones, a drop scone (pancake) just has more liquid, also scones are baked and drop scones are dropped, from a spoon onto a griddle.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

these are scones.

Apparently these are called biscuits in the US (??)

And what are biscuits over here are called cookies over there, whereas a cookie is a particular type of biscuit over here.

Biscuits were originally "twice cooked" pastries that made them crunchier, and also gave them a longer shelf life.

The dough used for making scones is similar to that for drop scones, a drop scone (pancake) just has more liquid, also scones are baked and drop scones are dropped, from a spoon onto a griddle.

I might as well get in first with this, as it's bound to come up:

they're pronounced 'skonns' NOT 'skoans'

[arthwollipot]

Yes, at least enough for people to recognize it in context and discriminate it from the other meaning of the word.
Same with "pork".Right, so Americans do use that sense of the word. Fair enough. I thought originally it was uniquely Australian, or perhaps British. It does explain the "B**k" reference on iTunes.

It's an awesome album, by the way. You should have a listen to it.

[wollery]

It's no wonder we spent 2000 years clobbering each other!And we used the rock cakes to do it!

[arthwollipot]

And we used the rock cakes to do it!http://questionablecontent.net/view.php?comic=1491

Question: what sound does a rock bun make when it hits a hippie squatter's head?

[dafydd]

Fair enough, and nope, not as far as I am aware, although I expect that minor English aristocracy would want to keep any association with one of the fiercest pirates of the south seas quiet, so there may be an unknown connection.

Did P.G. Wodehouse know something that we don't?

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Did P.G. Wodehouse know something that we don't?

Nope, but George Lucas might have. Guybrush Threepwood (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guybrush_Threepwood)

Actually, according to that link the Threepwood does come from P.G. Wodehouse, so I guess there is a relationship after all.

[SpitfireIX]

Right, so Americans do use that sense of the word. Fair enough. I thought originally it was uniquely Australian, or perhaps British. It does explain the "B**k" reference on iTunes.


Actually, not so much. As noted, most Americans would understand what was meant from the context, but when speaking would likely use a different expression. "Bonk" is usually used to mean "to strike or hit," generally not hard enough to cause any serious damage, as in, "He bonked his little brother on the head with a plastic baseball bat." The equivalent American term for "have sex with" would be "bang."


From Full Metal Jacket:

Warning: NSFW

Hartman: "Your days of finger-banging old Mary Jane Rottencrotch through her pretty pink panties are over!"

[zooterkin]

Right, so Americans do use that sense of the word. Fair enough. I thought originally it was uniquely Australian, or perhaps British.



Definitely used in Britain, often in tabloid headlines. The word is also used in cycling circles, but with a completely different meaning; it means much the same as 'hitting the wall' when running - when your body runs out of accessible energy reserves.

[Marcus]

these are scones.

Apparently these are called biscuits in the US (??)


Yes indeed. I didn't know that scones=biscuits, this thread is making me such an expert I'm ready to go over and visit. Still curious as to whether a bag of "potato chips" is labeled "potato crisps" or if the crisps thing is just slang.

[catbasket]

In Wales the pikelets do not have holes in them.

Here are some pics of pikelets

http://www.nhf.org.nz/images/pikelets%20small3.jpg

http://melissagoodsell.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/09/13/pikelets_2.jpg

I spy proper pikelets, just like mother used to make.

[Agatha]

They are labelled crisps, we wouldn't call them chips over here. Chips are what you folk call fries.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rosysparkle/2011707.jpg

[Marcus]

Definitely used in Britain, often in tabloid headlines. The word is also used in cycling circles, but with a completely different meaning; it means much the same as 'hitting the wall' when running - when your body runs out of accessible energy reserves.
Yes. To be overly technical, bonking occurs when blood glucose and glycogen reserves are both comsumed and the body is forced to metabolize fat , a slower pathway that causes a sudden decrease in performance. It also is sometimes used to describe a sudden decrease in performance caused by dehydration, the difference between the two is not readily apparent.

[Fiona]

They are labelled crisps, we wouldn't call them chips over here. Chips are what you folk call fries.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rosysparkle/2011707.jpg

The name is not very visible on that packet but it is not slang: they are called crisps. Because that is what they are :)

[Guybrush Threepwood]

The name is not very visible on that packet but it is not slang: they are called crisps. Because that is what they are :)

Indeed, and here is the website of the worlds finest crisp, just to prove the Walkers photo wasn't photoshopped. Tayto (http://www.taytocrisps.ie/)

[Z]

Funny - all this talk of pikelets and pancakes, and what do they show? Flapjacks. :D

[zooterkin]

Yes indeed. I didn't know that scones=biscuits, this thread is making me such an expert I'm ready to go over and visit.

Hmm, you may be right that scones and (US) biscuits are similar, but they're not exactly the same. I suspect scones are sweeter; they are usually eaten with jam and often clotted cream, as opposed to biscuits which are eaten as an accompaniment to meat with gravy (though your idea of gravy is somewhat different from ours :) ).

[Fiona]

Scones can be sweet or not: and they can also be cheese scones. But you are right: they appear to be the same thing but we do NOT eat scones with meat and gravy here, so far as I am aware

[jimbob]

Crisp (n):
a savoury tart with a rather sharp after-taste that those with conservative appetites find rather hard to swallow. Often served in the stately homos of England

Nominated

Lucky I wasn't drinking at the time

[zooterkin]

Scones can be sweet or not: and they can also be cheese scones.
Oh, yes, of course; I was thinking of plain scones. My mum and sister both make a mean cheese scone, which are wonderful when still warm with melting butter and marmite...

[Z]

US biscuits come in several varieties, but all are savory; they are eaten with butter or margarine, gravy (especially white sausage gravy), honey, or jelly. They are also used to make breakfast sandwiches of sausage or bacon, egg, and cheese. The best sort are made with buttermilk, but a good variety is simply flour, milk, and shortening (Butter-flavored Crisco works nicely). WHOP biscuits are also popular - so named because to open the tin, you whop them on the counter.

[Fiona]

what is crisco?

[Z]

what is crisco?

A kind of canned shortening. It comes in two varieties of which I know: regular (which is something like lard), and butter-flavored. It's used in cooking much the same way lard is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisco

[Fiona]

Well I am sure it is very good but

The initial purpose was to create a cheaper substance to make candles than the expensive animal fats in use at the time. Electricity began to diminish the candle market, and since the product looked like lard, they began selling it as a food.

there has to be a better story than that :D

[Ambrosia]

Scones can be sweet or not: and they can also be cheese scones. But you are right: they appear to be the same thing but we do NOT eat scones with meat and gravy here, so far as I am aware

cobblers...

(which in the UK means)

slang term from cockney rhyming slang meaning "balls" (cobblers awls)

A shoe maker

A meat dish topped with scones, such as a lamb casserole.

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobbler_(food)) a Cobbler in the US is some fruit dish that I've never heard of that resembles "toad in the hole" (altho TITH is made with sausages)

Oh and traditional scones as you'd serve for a cream tea are unsweetened and contain no fruit and a little salt. Their sole purpose is to highlight whichever preserve is spread on them, and to accentuate it's flavour.

On the subject of cream teas I have introduced some of my American friends to the delights of clotted cream on more than one occasion, and am always met with dumbfounded looks.

Does clotted cream still not exist in the USA?

(Clotted cream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream))

[Fiona]

Oh I forgot about cobblers: you are quite right, Ambrosia: it is basically scone topping.

[Z]

Well I am sure it is very good but



there has to be a better story than that :D

Welcome to the American food industry. IIRC - and I could be wrong - artificial flavorings in vanilla ice cream were originally used to kill lice.

And our space shuttle tiles are made of something similar to ice cream cones...

[Ambrosia]

The closest thing to Crisco in the UK is "Trex"

It's ideal for making pastry as it is 100% fat, butter and most other cooking fats are around 80% fat. The higher the fat content of the fat used the shorter and more crumbly the finished pastry will be.

It also make making puff pastry a million times easier (not that anyone in their right mind makes puff pastry but hey) as you get a better lamination, most commercial puff pastry is made with stuff called "pastry fat" which is to all intents and purposes exactly the same as Trex or Crisco.

[quadraginta]

what is crisco?

A kind of canned shortening. It comes in two varieties of which I know: regular (which is something like lard), and butter-flavored. It's used in cooking much the same way lard is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crisco


Well I am sure it is very good but

The initial purpose was to create a cheaper substance to make candles than the expensive animal fats in use at the time. Electricity began to diminish the candle market, and since the product looked like lard, they began selling it as a food.there has to be a better story than that :D



No. That sounds about right. :confused:

To think of all the marvelous ways
they're using plastics, nowadays.(Tom Lehrer, "It Makes a Fellow Proud To Be A Soldier (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0L_rD7CCe4&feature=PlayList&p=5864E7C69A251344&index=0&playnext=1)")

[quadraginta]

<snip>

Oh and traditional scones as you'd serve for a cream tea are unsweetened and contain no fruit and a little salt. Their sole purpose is to highlight whichever preserve is spread on them, and to accentuate it's flavour.


And to keep your hands from getting sticky.

On the subject of cream teas I have introduced some of my American friends to the delights of clotted cream on more than one occasion, and am always met with dumbfounded looks.


They're just too polite to tell you that your milk has gone bad.

Does clotted cream still not exist in the USA?

(Clotted cream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream))


Pasteurization. We don't have that problem as much any more.

[Ambrosia]

Welcome to the American food industry. IIRC - and I could be wrong - artificial flavorings in vanilla ice cream were originally used to kill lice.

And our space shuttle tiles are made of something similar to ice cream cones...

and the thickener used in Thickshakes, Cellulose Gum, E464, or hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, is used in disposable nappies, or as you say "diapers" (not to mention hundreds of other applications)



And to keep your hands from getting sticky.

true.


They're just too polite to tell you that your milk has gone bad.


:) - It's not gone bad, it has no rancid flavour, and lets not get into cheese.

[Marcus]

Indeed, and here is the website of the worlds finest crisp, just to prove the Walkers photo wasn't photoshopped. Tayto (http://www.taytocrisps.ie/)
Come on now, you made up that website yourself, just to fool me into thinking that such a silly name was actually in use. :)

[Marcus]

and the thickener used in Thickshakes, Cellulose Gum, E464, or hydroxypropyl methyl cellulose, is used in disposable nappies, or as you say "diapers" (not to mention hundreds of other applications)



There's another one, a "thickshake" must be a milkshake or malt. Cellulose gum,guar gum and HPMC are only used in cheap ice cream, not the good stuff, wouldn't touch the stuff myself.

[Darat]

They are labelled crisps, we wouldn't call them chips over here. Chips are what you folk call fries.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rosysparkle/2011707.jpg

Please note - that is the wrong colour of packet for chess & onion crisps!

[Fiona]

I could not agree more, Darat

Many a tragic error is caused by that abomination

[zooterkin]

Yes, the salt and vinegar are wrong, too.

Of course, it all started going downhill when they stopped selling the boxes of plain crisps with the salt in blue twists of paper...

[Rogue1stclass]

I will say that British "crisps" tend to come in more interesting flavors than our "chips". For example, you won't find "prawn" or "beef" flavor potato chips over here.

For that matter, you probably won't find "prawn" anything over here. We don't use the word much, if at all, and instead refer to that entire breed of crustacean as "shrimp".

[Fiona]

Boxes? Don't remember that: but smiths sell unsalted ones with salt in a blue sachet thing.

[Darat]

I could not agree more, Darat

Many a tragic error is caused by that abomination

I had just about got used to their mind games (after about 20 years), but then I bought a multipack of Golden Wonder - which uses the correct colours and put them in the cupboard - with some Walker's. Then for the next week my brain would seize as I got a packet out and it just couldn't cope.

[BTMO]

I bought a multipack of Golden Wonder - which uses the correct colours and put them in the cupboard - with some Walker's. Then for the next week my brain would seize as I got a packet out and it just couldn't cope.


I would hate to get trapped in a corner with you two at a party. No one would rescue me!

[wollery]

Yes indeed. I didn't know that scones=biscuits, this thread is making me such an expert I'm ready to go over and visit. Still curious as to whether a bag of "potato chips" is labeled "potato crisps" or if the crisps thing is just slang.Actually the "potato" bit is very rarely used. They're just called "crisps".

[quadraginta]

I had just about got used to their mind games (after about 20 years), but then I bought a multipack of Golden Wonder - which uses the correct colours and put them in the cupboard - with some Walker's. Then for the next week my brain would seize as I got a packet out and it just couldn't cope.


This is only gradually sinking in, so please be gentle.

Am I to understand that in England certain flavors ... er ... "flavours" of chips ... er ... "crisps" are supposed to come in certain colors ... er ... "colours"?

Weird.

I knew there was a British hangup about "propriety", but that's just silly.

[quadraginta]

Actually the "potato" bit is very rarely used. They're just called "crisps".


What if they're corn, or wheat, or rice?

... and what color should the bag be?

[Gord_in_Toronto]

Ha.

Back at you with Cracker Jack.

[Marcus]

What's not to understand about Cracker Jack? Popcorn, caramel, and peanutty goodness. But perhaps popcorn has an alias as well, nothing will suprise me now.

[bookitty]

I'm hoping someone here can clear up the UK meaning of the word "steak." Here in the US it refers to a few specific cuts of beef, sliced about an inch thick. In the UK it seems to mean simply "beef." Especially when served in a pie. Or perhaps I was just in the wrong pubs?

[wollery]

What if they're corn, or wheat, or rice?If they're not potato it's usually fairly prominently displayed on the pack.

E.g., "corn snacks".

[Gord_in_Toronto]

What's not to understand about Cracker Jack? Popcorn, caramel, and peanutty goodness. But perhaps popcorn has an alias as well, nothing will suprise me now.

"The more you eat. The more you want." Plus a "toy". :cool:

[quadraginta]

If they're not potato it's usually fairly prominently displayed on the pack.

E.g., "corn snacks".


If you don't have corn chips then you can't eat salsa.

Barbaric. An entire nation without salsa.

Next you'll try to tell me they have no buffalo wings.

Unbelievable.

[wollery]

If you don't have corn chips then you can't eat salsa.

Barbaric. An entire nation without salsa.

Next you'll try to tell me they have no buffalo wings.

Unbelievable.Sorry?

Where did I say we didn't have corn chips? :confused:

[quadraginta]

Sorry?

Where did I say we didn't have corn chips? :confused:


E.g., "corn snacks".

Shoulda added a smiley. :D

Mea culpa. :mad:

:rolleyes:

[Ambrosia]

I'm hoping someone here can clear up the UK meaning of the word "steak." Here in the US it refers to a few specific cuts of beef, sliced about an inch thick. In the UK it seems to mean simply "beef." Especially when served in a pie. Or perhaps I was just in the wrong pubs?

Steak must actually refer to a type of steak, however one of the types of steak in the UK is "braising steak" and apart from being a piece of dead cow has very little to do with steak at all. Worse than that is "stewing steak"

In something like a steak and ale pie either of those "steaks" is perfectly acceptable from a trading standards point of view.

Braising steak is usually blade of beef, it's the bit a little behind the shoulder on the top of the animal that goes down as far as the fore rib.

Stewing steak is leg or neck.

If you order steak as in steak and chips (no not crisps "fries") - then they must specify which type of steak it is and also the uncooked weight.

If you are eating in a large chain pub almost all the food is mass produced bilge. Think microwave ready meals, or deep fried from frozen.

[wollery]

Shoulda added a smiley. :D

Mea culpa. :mad:

:rolleyes:Shoulda said something funny?


:duck:

[zooterkin]

Boxes? Don't remember that:

You're obviously a youngster, much younger than your avatar suggests ;)

but smiths sell unsalted ones with salt in a blue sachet thing.

I think they stopped selling the unsalted ones at some point, once they'd worked out how to do ready salted, and then brought them back as a retro thing, with sachets of salt instead of twists of blue paper. ETA: It's also possible they had sachets before they stopped doing them; I wasn't that old at the time.

I do remember the excitement of looking for the blue paper twists, and sharing the box of crisps as a family treat. Try telling kids these days...

[Agatha]

This is only gradually sinking in, so please be gentle.

Am I to understand that in England certain flavors ... er ... "flavours" of chips ... er ... "crisps" are supposed to come in certain colors ... er ... "colours"?

Weird.

I knew there was a British hangup about "propriety", but that's just silly.

It was the great crisp schism. Once upon a time it worked thus: Ready salted - red bag. Salt and vinegar - blue bag. Cheese and onion - green bag. Beef - brown bag, bacon - dark red/purply colour bag, prawn cocktail - pink bag, chicken - orange bag.

Simples. Everyone knew what was what, and one never had to worry about opening a bag of cheese and onion and getting the abomination that is salt and vinegar.

But then Walkers (a pox be upon them) swapped the bag colours of salt & vinegar with cheese & onion. No longer could c&o or s&v be distinguished by bag colour alone. The country went into meltdown and the great crisp wars took over the nightly news. Factions of militants took to the streets, extolling the virtues of blue versus green packets. Questions were asked in parliament and even the Queen was asked to comment on the issue (she didn't, crisps other than handcut kettle crisps being unknown in the palace).

Slowly, the might of Walkers ground down the plucky rearguard action of Golden Wonder, and blue became the default colour for cheese and onion. Still, some small pockets of resistance remain and one can still obtain cheese and onion crisps in the proper green packets. You can still see people furtively checking the multipacks in the local supermarket.

Now, of course, there are even more "wild and wacky" flavours - chilli and chocolate, hoi-sin duck, builder's breakfast, Marmite, Worcester sauce, sour cream and onion, curry, lamb and mint and many more. You name it, we probably have that crisp flavour, and the packets may be any random colour.

But still the main argument remains. Which colour for salt and vinegar? I say blue.

[Marcus]

That's a lot of flavors, hopefully you have the best flavor, jalapeno. And I hope Quadraginta was kidding about you not having salsa, that would be sad.

[Agatha]

Of course we have salsa, we are not completely backward, y'know! :D I heard tell that some folk even have that new fangled electrickery stuff in their houses.


We do have jalapeno crisps too. http://www.realcrisps.com/ and look! They have the salt and vinegar in the proper blue bags.

[wollery]

You're obviously a youngster, much younger than your avatar suggests ;)

I think they stopped selling the unsalted ones at some point, once they'd worked out how to do ready salted, and then brought them back as a retro thing, with sachets of salt instead of twists of blue paper. ETA: It's also possible they had sachets before they stopped doing them; I wasn't that old at the time.

I do remember the excitement of looking for the blue paper twists, and sharing the box of crisps as a family treat. Try telling kids these days...Sadly I must admit to remembering when "penny" sweets were two a ha'penny.

[Darat]

...snip...

Slowly, the might of Walkers ground down the plucky rearguard action of Golden Wonder, and blue became the default colour for cheese and onion.

...snip...

It was nothing less than an imperialistic attack by the USA on the sovereignty of the UK, Walkers was bought by Pepsico to purposefully ferment dissent in the UK, the goal is to force us to accept the "potatoe* chip" rather than crisp.






*USA spelling of potato.

[Information Analyst]

The name is not very visible on that packet but it is not slang: they are called crisps. Because that is what they are :)

A more prominent example:

http://www.clarks-news.co.uk/images/seabrook_cheese_and_onion.jpg

[Ambrosia]

Slowly, the might of Walkers ground down the plucky rearguard action of Golden Wonder,

ahhhh Golden wonder.

Tho whatever happened to "Smiths Crisps"

KtkfE_OWSzo

[Guybrush Threepwood]

ahhhh Golden wonder.

Tho whatever happened to "Smiths Crisps"

KtkfE_OWSzo

Never mind Smiths, what about Tudor, that was a canny bag of crisps

[Darat]

ahhhh Golden wonder.

Tho whatever happened to "Smiths Crisps"

KtkfE_OWSzo

Walkers grabbed them!

[dafydd]

If you don't have corn chips then you can't eat salsa.

Barbaric. An entire nation without salsa.

Next you'll try to tell me they have no buffalo wings.

Unbelievable.

This from the country that has spray on cheese?

[richardm]

Which colour for salt and vinegar? I say blue.

A more prominent example:

http://www.clarks-news.co.uk/images/seabrook_cheese_and_onion.jpg

I won't hear a word said against Seabrooks, they're fantastic crisps. And they have salt and vinegar in the proper colour bag (i.e. yes, blue). Not like those filthy degenerate American bags.

Although Seabrooks have used the phrase "potato crisp" on their bags I don't think I've ever heard anyone actually refer to crisps as "potato crisps". It's automatically assumed because that's overwhelmingly what they are. Other types of crisp are distinguished by name - so it's "vegetable crisps" or "root crisps" or whatever.

[Lothian]

Never mind Smiths, what about Tudor, that was a canny bag of crispsThe crisps of my youth. I prefer the football advert when the long trip to watch a Newcastle defeat in the rain was offset by a bag a crisps but
g2UfzAQ8Pfg

[richardm]

The crisps of my youth. I prefer the football advert when the long trip to watch a Newcastle defeat in the rain was offset by a bag a crisps but

Same here, although that advert you've got there is the one that sticks most in my mind. And I never knew until now that Tudor Crisps were made in Peterlee (http://ww2.durham.gov.uk/dre/pgDre.aspx?&SEARCH=By+Place&TERM=Peterlee&ID=DRE2010&PIC=Y), a town not far from where I grew up. Furthermore I didn't know they were owned by Smiths, which presumably explains why they disappeared when Walkers started their rapacious destruction of the good flavours and sensible bag colours.

[Lothian]

Peterlee, a town not far from where I grew up. Congratulations on getting away.

[Ambrosia]

This from the country that has spray on cheese?

WTF is spray on cheese?

[Guybrush Threepwood]

The crisps of my youth. I prefer the football advert when the long trip to watch a Newcastle defeat in the rain was offset by a bag a crisps but

Was that the one where the tag line was something like "why aye, crisps a dog wouldn't corl it's lip at"? That's the only part I can remember.

[Elizabeth I]

I've no idea what those things are, and hope to god I never find out. This is the recipe for drop scones (http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2006/oct/21/recipes.foodanddrink1) . And if Shug says it, it must be true so there...

these are scones.

http://thenovicebaker.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/scones.jpg

Apparently these are called biscuits in the US (??)

And what are biscuits over here are called cookies over there, whereas a cookie is a particular type of biscuit over here.

Biscuits were originally "twice cooked" pastries that made them crunchier, and also gave them a longer shelf life.

The dough used for making scones is similar to that for drop scones, a drop scone (pancake) just has more liquid, also scones are baked and drop scones are dropped, from a spoon onto a griddle.

Yum, scones...a grocery store here in San Antonio has several different varieties of scones, including jalapeño cheese, but apparently rolled out and cut with a cutter, rather than dropped. Don't know how authentic they are, but their plain scones are delicious - pure butter, just a little bit sweet.

Definitely a "once in a while" treat.

I might as well get in first with this, as it's bound to come up:

they're pronounced 'skonns' NOT 'skoans'

...and once again y'all prove you don't know how to pronounce the language you allegedly invented (c.f. Cholmondelely, Thames...) :p

Hmm, you may be right that scones and (US) biscuits are similar, but they're not exactly the same. I suspect scones are sweeter; they are usually eaten with jam and often clotted cream, as opposed to biscuits which are eaten as an accompaniment to meat with gravy (though your idea of gravy is somewhat different from ours :) ).


On the subject of cream teas I have introduced some of my American friends to the delights of clotted cream on more than one occasion, and am always met with dumbfounded looks.

Does clotted cream still not exist in the USA?

(Clotted cream (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clotted_cream))

No, it doesn't, except in a few little stores that specialize in British products, and I must say it's not up to the same standard as the clotted cream I had during my one and only visit to your island.

I will say that British "crisps" tend to come in more interesting flavors than our "chips". For example, you won't find "prawn" or "beef" flavor potato chips over here.

For that matter, you probably won't find "prawn" anything over here. We don't use the word much, if at all, and instead refer to that entire breed of crustacean as "shrimp".

Bet they don't have barbecue flavor, though.

Steak must actually refer to a type of steak, however one of the types of steak in the UK is "braising steak" and apart from being a piece of dead cow has very little to do with steak at all. Worse than that is "stewing steak"

In something like a steak and ale pie either of those "steaks" is perfectly acceptable from a trading standards point of view.

Braising steak is usually blade of beef, it's the bit a little behind the shoulder on the top of the animal that goes down as far as the fore rib.

Stewing steak is leg or neck.

If you order steak as in steak and chips (no not crisps "fries") - then they must specify which type of steak it is and also the uncooked weight.

If you are eating in a large chain pub almost all the food is mass produced bilge. Think microwave ready meals, or deep fried from frozen.

My stepfather ordered a steak at a restaurant during a visit to London and said they first boiled it, then broiled it. Surely not!:eek:

[Z]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Cheese

The Sharp Cheddar flavor is most acceptable.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

My stepfather ordered a steak at a restaurant during a visit to London and said they first boiled it, then broiled it. Surely not!:eek:

Definitely not, as the British (or Irish for that matter) never broil anything. They grill things.
And if they want to do what you (and the Germans) call grilling they barbeque them.

And to really answer your question, I've never heard of that, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.

[microdot]

Using myself by way of example, whenever I find myself on the verge of criticizing someone else's speech patterns or dialect I try to reflect carefully on my own.

Usually this is sufficient to stifle any errant feelings of superiority.

A thing of beauty is a joy forever :D

[microdot]

Too bad it doesn't work for imaginary moral superiority, then. Or pomposity.

Whack!

Good come-back :D

[Agatha]

Bet they don't have barbecue flavor, though.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rosysparkle/cw1.jpg

Also: http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Images/ExternalImages/ProductsDetailed/12/120212.jpg

and: http://snackspot.org.uk/images/asdaExtraSpecialScottishHeatherHoneyBBQflavour.jpg

:D

[microdot]

Which taste _nothing_ like _anything_ I've _ever_ eaten off a barbecue. :confused:

[Z]

I just wonder who told Tom's that bar-B-Q flavoring involves copious amounts of sugar...

[Lothian]

Was that the one where the tag line was something like "why aye, crisps a dog wouldn't corl it's lip at"? That's the only part I can remember.Could be; it was a long time ago. Talking of which.
http://www.childofthe1980s.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/hedgehog-flavoured-crisps.jpg

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Which taste _nothing_ like _anything_ I've _ever_ eaten off a barbecue. :confused:

Erm... yeah right because every other crisp flavour tastes like the thing it's named after????:eye-poppi

Except the ones in the post above this, which tasted exactly like hedgehogs

[ZirconBlue]

It was nothing less than an imperialistic attack by the USA on the sovereignty of the UK, Walkers was bought by Pepsico to purposefully ferment dissent in the UK, the goal is to force us to accept the "potatoe* chip" rather than crisp.






*USA spelling of potato.

Which is weird, considering that Salt & Vinegar potato chips in the US are almost always sold in blue bags.


http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y74/rosysparkle/cw1.jpg

:D

Interesting. That's clearly just a Lay's brand chip bag with the name "Lay's" replaced with "Walker's" (and "chips" replaced with "crisps").




Note: "Barbecue Flavor" really means "Barbecue Sauce Flavor".

[Marcus]

WTF is spray on cheese?
Cheese Whiz. Pasturized, processed, simulated cheese product that comes out of a pressurized can like whipped cream. I don't think there is much actual cheese in it.

[Marcus]

Definitely not, as the British (or Irish for that matter) never broil anything. They grill things.
And if they want to do what you (and the Germans) call grilling they barbeque them.

And to really answer your question, I've never heard of that, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.
Grilling is cooking on a grill over a hot fire.
Barbeque is cooking slowly with smoke over an indirect, cool fire.
Broiling is cooking with an overhead flame.
Our definitions, anyway.

[zooterkin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easy_Cheese



As seen in The Blues Brothers, although it's referred to as Cheez Whiz, which actually comes in a jar.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Grilling is cooking on a grill over a hot fire.
Barbeque is cooking slowly with smoke over an indirect, cool fire.
Broiling is cooking with an overhead flame.
Our definitions, anyway.

No No No No No
Barbeque is cooking outside over charcoal in summer, wearing a comedy apron with breasts or fishnet stockings, while getting drunk.
Broiling is mentioned in the discussion of Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky in Alice Through The Looking Glass, but hasn't been used in these Islands since.
Grilling is cooking with an overhead flame (or other overhead source of heat)

[Z]

As seen in The Blues Brothers, although it's referred to as Cheez Whiz, which actually comes in a jar.

IN other words, Cheez Whiz was not the topic under question; Easy Cheese was.

There are several off-brands that are quite good, and have a higher content of actual cheese-related ingredients. Easy Cheese is less cheesy.

And none of these are actually 'aerosol' cheese...

[Z]

No No No No No
Barbeque is cooking outside over charcoal in summer, wearing a comedy apron with breasts or fishnet stockings, while getting drunk.
Broiling is mentioned in the discussion of Lewis Carroll's poem Jabberwocky in Alice Through The Looking Glass, and hasn't been used in these Islands since.
Grilling is cooking with an overhead flame (or other overhead source of heat)

No wonder you lost the war.

[Guybrush Threepwood]

No wonder you lost the war.

Nope, we won, independent since 1922.

[Ambrosia]

Noones yet mentioned the single greatest altenative crisp flavour yet ...

Worcester Sauce (2nd only to Cheese & Onion)

And I am torn between whether my favourite corn snack is Monster Munch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch) or Frazzles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazzles)

both originally by Smiths Crisps.

I am now wishing I hadn't asked about spray on cheese...

[Guybrush Threepwood]

Noones yet mentioned the single greatest altenative crisp flavour yet ...

Worcester Sauce (2nd only to Cheese & Onion)

And I am torn between whether my favourite corn snack is Monster Munch (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Munch) or Frazzles (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frazzles)

both originally by Smiths Crisps.

I am now wishing I hadn't asked about spray on cheese...

Nor Tomato Ketchup flavour either

Oh, and Monster Munch....or maybe Quavers

[Z]

Nope, we won, independent since 1922.

It's soooo sad, seeing thee Islanders in such a state of denial... :p

Of course, in a nation that can go to blows over the color of potato chip packaging... what do you expect? :D

[zooterkin]

IN other words, Cheez Whiz was not the topic under question; Easy Cheese was.

Yes, that's what I was trying to say. Although the character refers to Cheez Whiz, the item that is tossed to him is a can of Easy Cheese. So, as seen...

[Darat]

Nor Tomato Ketchup flavour either

Oh, and Monster Munch....or maybe Quavers

Original Wotsits - before Walkers got their hands on them!


I HATE WALKERS!!!!!

[ZirconBlue]

Yes, that's what I was trying to say. Although the character refers to Cheez Whiz, the item that is tossed to him is a can of Easy Cheese. So, as seen...

It's a common misconception that Cheez Whiz is "spray cheese". I wonder if that scene is a cause of that misconception or a result of it?

[jimbob]

Definitely not, as the British (or Irish for that matter) never broil anything. They grill things.
And if they want to do what you (and the Germans) call grilling they barbeque them.

And to really answer your question, I've never heard of that, but that doesn't mean it couldn't have happened.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asterix_in_Britain

We Gauls imagine the British talking in a very refined way, drinking tea at five o'clock and warm beer at the peculiar hours of opening time. The British eat their food boiled, with mint sauce; they are brave, phlegmatic, and always keep a stiff upper lip. Suppose we were British, caricaturing the Gauls, we would say they all wore berets, ate frogs and snails and drank red wine for breakfast. We might add that they all have hopelessly relaxed upper lips, and that phlegm is not their outstanding characteristic. And most of all, we should hope that the Gauls would have as good a sense of humour as the British

[jimbob]

Interesting. That's clearly just a Lay's brand chip bag with the name "Lay's" replaced with "Walker's" (and "chips" replaced with "crisps").



It looks as if both are owned by PepsiCo...

[quadraginta]

That's a lot of flavors, hopefully you have the best flavor, jalapeno. And I hope Quadraginta was kidding about you not having salsa, that would be sad.
I was.

I hope.

[quadraginta]

Of course we have salsa, we are not completely backward, y'know! :D I heard tell that some folk even have that new fangled electrickery stuff in their houses.


We do have jalapeno crisps too. http://www.realcrisps.com/ and look! They have the salt and vinegar in the proper blue bags.
What's the proper color for Jalapeno?

[quadraginta]

*USA spelling of potato.
That would be "Republican" spelling of ...

[Marduk]

World War 2/ 1941-45 conflict

:D