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

[delericho]

Is cricket still a big thing the UK?

It's more an English thing than UK-wide - although there is a Scottish team (and I expect there are also Welsh and Northern Irish teams), very few people up here play to any extent. And anyone who is serious about the sport almost inevitably has to head south to play.

I do know one guy who plays at a semi-serious but still amateur level. Not sure if that counts, though, since he's originally from India.

As for cricket...I've seen snippets of matches, but have never seen a whole game. I don't even understand the scoring system.

It's not so hard, at least at its core. Team 1 gets an innings to try to accumulate as many runs as possible, then Team 2 have their innings, then Team 1 has a second innings, then Team 2... and at the end of 5 days they declare it a draw and play again some other time.

The "5 days and then it's a draw" thing is an exaggeration, but not by all that much. The rules of the game give conditions for winning the game, but if the time limit for the game expires before then, it's a draw - it doesn't matter who was 'winning' at that point, or even if the outcome was a foregone conclusion. The game is either won decisively, or it's a draw. This means that if (as is quite common) the 5-day test match loses a day or two due to rain, it's almost certainly a draw. And it also gives rise to some strategic play where a team might be getting beaten by a vastly superior team and so rather than trying to win the game, they instead try desperately just to cling on, to run down the clock, and to get a draw.

At least, that applies to test match cricket, which plays out over 5 days. There are other formats which have different rules (generally designed to reduce the number of draws). But my grandfather is a test match purist, so I've never really been exposed to them.

 

[Tonguez]

Heres what I wonder

What are the American versions of

- Scones
- Biscuits
- Crumpets
- Muffins
- Jam (not Jelly which is different)
- Mince pies
- cornish pasties
- battered sausage on a stick (we call it a hotdog)

and do Americans eat sausage rolls?

 

[Ryujin]

Heres what I wonder

What are the American versions of

- Scones
- Biscuits
- Crumpets
- Muffins
- Jam (not Jelly which is different)
- Mince pies
- cornish pasties
- battered sausage on a stick (we call it a hotdog)

and do Americans eat sausage rolls?

- scones or biscuits (depends on where)
- cookies
- English muffins (North American muffins are more like little cakes)
- You'll have to give me a definition on that (I was thinking of crumpets)
- jam
- butter tart (closest analogue)
- meat pie (but not really the same)
- corn dog or corn dodger (though a hot dog rather than a sausage)

For the real thing we generally have to go to a "Scottish Bakery."

 

[delericho]

For the real thing we generally have to go to a "Scottish Bakery."

Do they deep-fry everything?

 

[Ryujin]

Do they deep-fry everything?

Not deep fried, but quite often fried. Some things are first boiled and THEN fried.

 

[billd91]

Heres what I wonder

What are the American versions of

- Scones
- cornish pasties

Scones and pasties are known as scones as pasties around here. A lot of Cornish miners settled in southern Wisconsin and ended up giving the state its nickname as the Badger State so we may be a bit more pasty-friendly than other regions. But scones are pretty ubiquitous.

and do Americans eat sausage rolls?

Some do, but then my wife spent a lot of time living in the UK so she may have been corrupted.

 

[Janx]

ironically you just highlighted another difference. Where I come from Hockey is played on grass with J-shaped sticks and a small hard ball.

The only game properly played on ice is Curling

oh yeah, that version of hockey. That happened when Ole almost drowned playing their new game of Hockey on the pond, in the summer. So he politely suggested they play on the lawn instead since he and Sven kept losing to Jesus's team. Then they found that the sticks kept catching on the crab grass lawn, so they put a curved end on them.

 

[billd91]

oh yeah, that version of hockey. That happened when Ole almost drowned playing their new game of Hockey on the pond, in the summer. So he politely suggested they play on the lawn instead since he and Sven kept losing to Jesus's team. Then they found that the sticks kept catching on the crab grass lawn, so they put a curved end on them.

I... can't recall the last time I saw a Sven and Ole ethnic joke.

 

[Ryujin]

oh yeah, that version of hockey. That happened when Ole almost drowned playing their new game of Hockey on the pond, in the summer. So he politely suggested they play on the lawn instead since he and Sven kept losing to Jesus's team. Then they found that the sticks kept catching on the crab grass lawn, so they put a curved end on them.

Actually, in Canada, curling is frequently referred to as "Eskimo Bowling."

 

[tomBitonti]

Something I've always wondered about was the usage of "maths" in the British Isles. (Not sure of the exact geography.) For example, from Elementary, Moriarty has a line where she says, "You've done the maths," in reference to her daughter and that she cannot be Sherlock's.

The usage seems quite common, but it's not usual for folks in the United States. We would probably say, "You've done the arithmetic."

Thx!

TomB