quote:

Originally posted by Robert D:
US Rutabaga
UK (England) Swede

THAT'S what Swede is?! I see it in everything here and had NO idea what it was. Thanks

UK: Flog (like the show)
US: Auction (I think -- what's the word when you yourself put something up for auction)

UK: Egg mayonnaise
US: Egg salad

Ask for egg salad here and you'll get lettuce and other stuff along with your hardboiled eggs mixed with mayonnaise......or are my georgia/west virginia roots showing??

quote:

Originally posted by Robert D:
US Rutabaga
UK (England) Swede
UK (Scotland) Turnip, shortened to neep

In the US, a Rutabaga is different from a Turnip - it is more yellow, the turnip is white inside. Do you have both of these?

I thought a swede was something different but cooked one in May and it tasted just like rutabaga, so I figured that must be what it was!

What I don't know all the equivalents of:
UK Granulated sugar
UK Caster sugar (or old spelling castor)
UK Icing sugar
in order of degrees of coarseness from coarse to fine.

KHB you say
UK caster sugar is
US granulated sugar - how confusing is that! What are the others called please in the US?

Salad Dressing - US
Salad Cream - UK

Felicity,
It is confusing, isn't it, I'll take a stab at trying to explain:

UK: Granulated Sugar = US: Granulated Sugar

UK: Caster/Castor Sugar = US: technically Superfine Sugar, but in the US we rarely use Superfine sugar, so in recipes from the UK we are generally advised to translate Caster Sugar to Granulated Sugar

UK: Icing Sugar = US: Powdered Sugar

-Krista

quote:

Originally posted by KHB:
UK: Caster/Castor Sugar = US: technically Superfine Sugar, but in the US we rarely use Superfine sugar, so in recipes from the UK we are generally advised to translate Caster Sugar to Granulated Sugar

In the US, I think we call "superfine" sugar Baker's Sugar. (At least that's what the C&H box in my cupboard is labeled!)

quote:

In the US, a Rutabaga is different from a Turnip - it is more yellow, the turnip is white inside. Do you have both of these?

Yes, we do: it's only the Scots who confuse the issue by calling the swede a turnip. So the delicious disch of 'bashed neeps' is swede, mashed with lots of butter.

Jonathan

quote:

Tony (the PM) uses whilst all the time! I have heard it from many a Brit in my day. It always sort of sticks out for me as a tough of aristocracy. When I worked as an English Instructor in Germany, we were required to teach both whilst and while.

I use whilst all the time - much to the amusement of my daughters.

Must be a leftover from my far from aristocratic British upbringing!

While sounds unfinished!

For the game: (Can we change US to NA since we Canadians are also playing?)

UK Take-away
US Take-out

I've got to branch out more -- I didn't even know this thread was here!

UK: biscuits
US: cookies

UK: lorry
US: truck

UK: caravan
US: RV

UK: greengrocer
US: fruit market

I've got more, but I'll quit now!

UK ooo's and xxx's (noughts and crosses)
US xxx's and OOO's (x's and O's)
or
Tic Tac Toe


UK Rubbish
US Garbage

quote:

In the US, I think we call "superfine" sugar Baker's Sugar. (At least that's what the C&H box in my cupboard is labeled!)

Colleen, that's funny because I have some C&H Superfine sugar in my cupboard - so apparently they make both. I'm not sure what the difference is, though. Maybe it's a marketing thing... Superfine sugar never really took off, so they changed the name to see what would happen.

Here's their website for those who want to read all about it...

-Krista

That IS funny - according to their website, Baker's Sugar is "ultrafine" sugar! Who knew??
~~~~~~~~

>>UK: biscuits
>>US: cookies

What do they call (US style) biscuits in the UK?

From Colleen:

quote:

>>UK: biscuits
>>US: cookies

Clive????

They call them Clive?

Biscuits are scones.

You eat them with jam and cream and it's called a Devonshire tea. You can get this at most Australian cafes too. And we have it over here all the time when someone comes to morning or afternoon tea.

It's usually strawberry jam - but I prefer raspberry.

Hmmm. We have scones in the US, too, but they're not the same as our "biscuits." Basic biscuit recipe

UK: Solicitor
US: Lawyer

UK: Garden
US: Yard

UK: Boot
US: Trunk

quote:

Basic biscuit recipe

Yep, that's the basically the same recipe as the one in the Margaret Fulton Cookbook - she's the guru of cooking over here.

Hmmm again. I'm not convinced - I've had scones in England, and they were nothing like US biscuits.

When I'm in the UK next year, I'll just have to make some taste tests in person.

US: clothespins
UK: clothespegs

This is another one I'm not sure of, since I learned it from Pauline, and it may be just Canadian English, not UK.

A scone is like what in the US we call a biscuit and is served with clotted cream and jelly or jam...oh so good. But the term biscuit is used for what in the US we would call cookie. As in McVidey's (not sure of spelling) chocolate biscuit. But if you want something like Walker's shortbread, a great cookie, you just ask for shortbread. I am not sure what the terms are in Canada. If you are in the grocery store in England and are looking for cookies, you find tea biscuits. Again, these are not at all what in the US we call biscuits and eat as a bread substitute. Isn't biscuit a strange word? I have to keep checking the spelling as it doesn't seem to flow correctly. Is it a french word? My grandmother was from the south and made wonderful small, almost flat melt in your mouth biscuits.Hot from the oven with a pat of fresh butter, there was nothing more heavenly. But most places when you get a biscuit, you get big puffy and heavy things. Not the same at all. And over here we almost never get clotted cream.

Biscuit is indeed French, it means "twice cooked". The American (Southern) biscuit is unknown to the English but it resembles the savory scones of Scotland and Ireland that are not meant to be eaten with jam and cream. In fact, the US biscuit is probably a legacy of what are called the "Scotch Irish" in the US and we would call protestant Ulstermen in the UK.

UK In our garden we have earth
US In your yard you have dirt....

so what is the equivalent of our UK dirt (which is not necessarily soil/earth but just plain dirt and dust?

UK: Terraced house
US: Townhouse

UK: Grill
US: Broil

UK: Jellied eel
US: You want me to eat WHAT???

UK: rubber = eraser
US: rubber = condom

cellatape - UK
scotchtape - US

Plonk=Wine - Uk, or cheap plonk as they say
Wine - US

Vest - UK
Undershirt - US

Off License - UK
Liquor Store - US

Fry up - UK
Breakfast _ US

Puncture - UK
Flat - US

Arial - UK
Antenna - US

Settee - UK
Sofa - US

Tosser - UK
Idiot - US

Indicator - UK
Blinker - US

UK: budgie
US: parakeet

UK: draughts
US: checkers

UK: Thermos flask
US: Thermos bottle

UK: rug
US: afghan

Cheers!

Oh, and the biscuit I was referring to is indeed like a cookie.

(I tried to edit my last post, but I was unable to do so, thus 2 posts. My internet is acting up so maybe that's the cause!)

quote:

Originally posted by Colleen:
They call them Clive?

Who me?

What?

I don't remember ever seeing an "American style biscuit" in Scotland. They just have scones. The two are basically the same: a soda or baking powder (as opposed to yeast) bread. But the Scottish scones were always much sweeter than American biscuits. And scones seemed to be served for breakfast or tea, whereas American biscuits are mostly served with meat as a bread substitute, so could be any meal.

I think the upshot is Scottish scones are treated like pastry, and American biscuits like bread. So, is there in Scotland a non-sweet, soda-risen, scone-sized, wheat flour based baked item?

If the US is expanded to be North America, we'll have some problems.

"Chips" for example is a term used interchangeably with "french fries" or "fries" in Canada. Here's a case where we use both the English and the American term!

quote:

Originally posted by maureen:
US: clothespins
UK: clothespegs

This is another one I'm not sure of, since I learned it from Pauline, and it may be just Canadian English, not UK.

Can anyone help us out with this one? I don't know why I called them clothespegs - Canadian, UK? I was raised in Canada, by a British mother - so I probably have some Canadian terms and some British ones.

US: mom
UK: mum

Clothes pegs is Australian, which is completely based on the UK.
We don't have clothes pins over here.

(I use my dryer.)

Hey Maureen - My sisters and I have never called our mother anything but mom. But my kids call me mum.

In Australia there are also dollypegs. These are the ones that aren't on hinges, but a solid piece of wood split in the middle. You can draw little faces on them to make them look like dollies.

Earline I remember those! They had them when I first came over to live in Australia. You can still sometimes find them in a craft store now.

Wow, Leslie, that's really showing my age, eh? We have them here in craft stores, but they are not called dollypegs! We used to use them for all kinds of crafts in my Brownie pack in Sydney -- I was Brown Owl for a few years.

Byre (UK)
Cow barn (US)

P.S. RE: Take Out vs. Take Away

My roommate and I went to England a few years ago. Anyway, we went to a Chinese resauratnt to take out dinner. And the conversation between him and the hostess went like this:

Her: "Is this to take away?"
Him: "You mean to go?"
Her: "Yes to take away."
Him: "Take out."
Her: "Take away."
Him: "Take OUT."

You'd think he'd gotten from all of the "Mind Your Step" signs that things are a tiny bit different there from home.

My very British ex-wife: "I won't be a minute; I just have to kirby-grip my fringe."

Me (rolling on the floor): "You WHAT?"

Her: "And how would you say it, Mr. Smarty-American-pants?"

Me: "Bobby-pin your bangs, of course."

Her: Long, fierce look of triumph.

quote:

US: mom
UK: mum

My sister always called my mother "MUMMY." My brother and I called her "MOM"." Why this happened within the same family is beyond me.

Turn the gas off (on the stove)NA
Turn the gas out (on the stove)UK

Spoonful of butter NA
Knob of butter UK

brown sugar NA
Demerero (sp?) sugar UK

Got these from watching English cooking shows.

Wow, I'm late to this party, but glad to have a chance to check out what it's taken me years of reading English mysteries to figure out:

UK: the High Street
US: Main Street (ie: main shopping area of a town?)

I dunno...it's always puzzled me, as I don't know if "the high street" is actually NAMED "The High Street" or just referred to as such informally.

Helpful insights?

Karen

US - cheap, as in stingy
UK - mean

UK: return ticket
US: round trip ticket

It is common for towns to have a street called High Street; I'm not sure if those that don't would refer to a street of another name as "our high street".

US: flashlight
UK: torch

US: windshield
UK: windscreen

US: headlights
UK: headlamps

Also the Brits identify sides of the car as "Off side and Near side" I'm still not exactly sure which is which. Not sure if there is a north american equivalent come to think of it.

With my newfound expertise on British ,

US: diaper
UK: nappie

US: pacifier (has anyone read Anne Tyler's latest yet?)
UK: dummy

US: umbrella
UK: brolly

quote:

So, is there in Scotland a non-sweet, soda-risen, scone-sized, wheat flour based baked item?

Scottish scones shouldn't be sweet. Here's a Scottish recipe and here's one for a Southern biscuit which is lighter than a scone.

The English sweeten their scones as you can see in this BBC recipe.

On another point, High Street is common in England but, in Scotland, Main Street is more common.

In Oxford, the streets are commonly preceded by "The" thus High Street becomes "the High", similarly The Broad.

Just thought of another one:

US: dress
UK: frock

And just to add a bit of controversy into the thread, does anyone else agree that the UK words are generally much more fun? I think perhaps "bobby pin my bangs" requires honourable mention but even that is outdone by "kirby grip my fringe"

UK: to alight
US: to disembark, get off (which has an embarrassing double meaning)

"Alight" exists in American usage, but isn't in common use for transportation. I'm tempted just to say "alight" when referring to transportation.

I'm not sure if this corresponds precisely, and maybe someone can explain it better, but basically:

UK: public school
US: private school