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

[nerfherder]

they are triangle shaped when you buy them at Starbucks or other places in the US (that may or may not be the Official Brittish Form Factor for Scones)

No, British scones are...

roundish moundish things.

Coincidentally, I had afternoon tea on Saturday, and the scones were delicious

 

[Rune]

From the Wiki:


Never had it myself, at least, not knowingly.

You would know it. Unlike most gravies, red eye gravy is typically not thickened. (That's why it's so good over grits!)

 

[nerfherder]

if you work on a project with Indians, eventually one of them will say something like "I have a few doubts"

Can't say I remember any of our Indian contractors saying that, so I can't help you. The one that sticks in my mind is "do the needful" - any idea where that comes from?

 

[Rune]

Wait, what? Coffee is in red eye gravy? I like red eye, I hate coffee -- and I never tasted anything coffee-ish about red eye gravy. Now I need to look this up.

Bullgrit

Not everyone makes it with coffee. But if you do, it still isn't supposed to overpower the pork flavor.

 

[Morrus]

brittish

By the way, you really need to start spelling that word correctly. For better or for worse, it's starting to grate on me. It's a bit like repeatedly getting someone's name wrong.

 

[billd91]

By the way, you really need to start spelling that word correctly. For better or for worse, it's starting to grate on me.

I believe the correct spelling is "pommy bastard". At least, that's what Bruce from the Philosophy Department at Woolloomooloo University tells me.

 

[Rune]

On the subject of red eye gravy, traditionally it is made with country ham drippings. Country ham is quite a bit saltier than the city ham most folk are used to (even sugar cures are over 50% salt). A lot of the flavor of red eye gravy is derived from that.

Of course, bacon is also pretty salty.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Bruce is at Woolloomooloo COLLEGE! He says otherwise, he's putting on airs. He got denied the post at Woolloomooloo University.

 

[Umbran]

No, British scones are...

I don't think the shape is telling. I know here in the US, they frequently come both round and triangular.

 

[Bullgrit]

Here in the US, we have all kinds of ethnic and national restaurants including British. I'm not even talking about the ones located and run within a local ethnic/national enclave, but eateries -- some are chain franchises -- in common areas. I never really thought about it before, but I really don't know if other nations have such things. Are there Chinese restaurants in France, Ethiopian in Germany, Mexican in Japan, etc. Again, I'm not talking about places that only those ethnicities/nationalities patronize -- I would say surely there are such at least for immigrants. But there are many restaurants here that we may go to without even thinking of it as "Let's have Chinese food tonight"; we'd just say, "Hey, let's go to PF Chang's* tonight." Or I'd pick up some Moe's* on the way home without a thought of burritos being a Mexican dish.

When I was in Sweden, my coworkers took me to an "American-style" restaurant, and I found it odd. It didn't really feel "American" at all other than it served burgers and french fries. It didn't even look American -- heck, the building was probably 100 years old. On my plate was a sauce of some kind that I enjoyed dipping my fries in. When I asked what it was, my Swedish coworkers said it was supposed to be "American dressing." I told them I had never seen it before, and could even compare it to any dressing I'd tasted before.

So we Americans have "English restaurants", do you have "American restaurants"?

* I know some people think chain restaurant's are crap, and the food they serve isn't "real" Chinese or Mexican or what-have-you. I'm just using chain names for examples because most will recognize the names and what they serve. Yes, we have many good, non-chain ethnic/national restaurants, but the fact that they are one-store-local kind of places, no one outside that town would recognize the name.

Bullgrit