Wherein we ask each other dialect questions we don't quite understand

[Rune]

Would the onion rings on that menu be battered and deep-fried, as they would over here?

 

[nerfherder]

I love how they handraised the pork pie. Brought it up from when it was a wee baby pork pie.

That's how we do it up North - none of your pork pie nannies!

Would the onion rings on that menu be battered and deep-fried, as they would over here?

Yes.

 

[Morrus]

That's how we do it up North - none of your pork pie nannies!

You can totally tell that's a Northern menu, not a Southern one!

 

[Scott DeWar]

The opposite of the food in the Amtrak dining car. That food was superb in the 80's. But like the British rail system being gone, so is also Amtrak

 

[tomBitonti]

Small plates

Potted Shrimps and Hot Toast
£7.80

Eh, what is a potted shrimp? I'm used to potting plants, not shrimp.

Thx!

TomB

 

[Bullgrit]

If you call a trip away, a "holiday", what do you call special days on a calendar (like Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or Fourth of July)?

Bullgrit

[sblock]Hehehe I know, I know.[/sblock]

 

[pedr]

We call specific public holiday days "Bank Holidays" (as historically the closure of banks presumably meant that most businesses didn't operate).

We tend to use the word holiday in a lot of cases, including paid time off from work whatever the date. We usually call the winter celebration period "Christmas" even if we're not at all religious (and, probably, even many who are adherents of other religions will call the season Christmas). It took me a while to work out what "the holidays" meant when TV schedulers used it to mean "around Christmas time".

 

[Scott DeWar]

Tom, it involves canniboids.

 

[pedr]

I don't actually know what potted shrimp is. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a pate of some kind.

But British English uses the word prawn for the common small or medium-sized pink shellfish often eaten with tomato mayonnaise and lettuce as a starter (prawn/shrimp cocktail?). I think we use the word shrimp for something specific and slightly different.

 

[Tonguez]

Tripadvisor should give you some good pointers. When I go to London I don't tend to eat anywhere special, because I can eat fantastic food here for half the price. The one place that stands out is Kopapa, which is right in the West End - we had a lovely brunch there.

Huh! Kopapa is a New Zealand Resteraunt, though fusion based. Pretty cool that it gets a thumbs up

Potted Shrimp is shrimp set in spiced butter in a small pot. James Bond likes it.