h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Sausage in bread roll - aren't we talking Hot Dog here?

No, no, no, no.
A bread roll, not one of these long thin hot dog bun things. For some reason they get called baps in pub menus in England. I could have sworn baps was a schoolyard euphemism for female breasts, which is why I always have trouble ordering them in pubs. Rolls that is

Kaeori, you've just really set the cat amongst the pigeons, talking culinary delights, barmcakes, pikelets, spanish, faggots (which up North are known as savoury ducks), kalai, scouse, lobby, tato hash, oven bottoms, bridge rolls, dippy bread. You'll never learn all the regional foods the English have, I know I haven't.

Never mind me duck, don't bother going all round the wrekin, just smile & gew back int th'ouse. I'll not grouse if you're mithered.

As your personal British English tutor I, the one and only Phil Rose esq will tell you all about stuff. Whilst is like while so you might say 'Whilst Phil is great at everything you are rubbish. It's the dog, never heard of that one. It's the dog's refers to It's the Dog's Bollocks which just mean really good. British people are really into dogs testicles
Phil
Edinburgh
Sctland

Would that be real oven bottoms? Don't get them round where I live n'more. Can't get real muffins, just these tiddely bread rolls.

Aside on barmcakes. They are so called becaude the yeast used to make bread (and beer) was taken from the barm - the yeast broth added to beer and bread, well that's what it said at the bass museum of brewing anyway. Yeast is also the reasom Marmite is made in Burton on Trent, it was really easy to get the leftover and dead yeast from all the brewers located there.

Is this food different, or is it what we all eat, just with different names?

Me too. (confused) Is "Bloody" considered a rude word, an ugly word or like a substitute for an even 'worse' word?
Why?

Prairie Oysters are bull's testicles and yes, people really do eat them. They're usually drunk. And wearing a large hat. The people, I mean.

There is a commonly held belief that "bloody" used as an expletive is derived from medieval times (or thereabouts) as a corruption of religious phrases. Thus we get:
"bloody" from "by our lady" the virgin Mary,
"zounds" from "God's (Christ's) wounds",
"gadzooks" from "God's hooks (hands)",
and probably a lot more that I can't immediately call to mind (where did I put the Canterbury Tales).

"Bloody" is much loved by children because of its ambiguity. Which may account for its continuing use when its contemporaries faded into the etymological designation "archaic".

Can I quote from that fount of all knowledge, the Viz Dictionary?

No?

Oh well alright then.


That's better, an apology for my hurt feelings also wouldn't go amiss (or is the PC term ams?)

"Bloody,very, extremely, exceedingly (used as an intensifier, often ironically as in 'that's bloody marvelous, that is'. In very frequent use in australia, almost unheard of in america, and regarded as a swear word in england. Often thought to be a shortening of religious oath by our lady, but more likely to derived from 17c blood: an aristocratic rowdy young man)"

Isn't Gor Blimey also supposed to be a corruption of God Blind Me?

Or the mutt's nuts (nuts is another term for bollocks).

I think the term dog's bollocks comes from the observation that dogs spend so much time licking them...so they can't be bad.

Incidentally the term dog meaning an aesthetically challenged female is used in the UK too.

It seems that British actors are expected to use the word 'Bloody!' to emphasize their Britishness.

Quaint!

Bloody quaint even!

Quaint.

Isn't that an old word for an extremely rude description of a female part?

Of course this could just be the result of a diseased imagination.

It is probably one of the few words writers can think of that is obviously British, while not being offensive. There are plenty of other words that could be used, but either the meaning is not obvious to Americans (as this discussion has shown) or they do know what it means and the American version of Mary Whitehouse will faint into her Ovaltine at the very mention.

From Kaeori:

"What I would call 'English', the British (somewhat unimaginatively) call side."

That's only in snooker and billiards. In cricket, it's 'swing', and in football it's 'swerve' for the noun and 'bend' for the verb, as in 'Beckham bent that one round the wall', or 'Look at the swerve on that one from Beckham'.

Apologies to all ABUs out there, but he's generally acknowledged to be the most prominent English exponent of English.

Ah yes, but football comentators being such masters of the tongue, the phrase can become "Beckham certainly put bend on the ball"...and, more confusingly "the ball bent in mid-flight".

Of course! I forgot about the Great One (Big Ron that is, apologies to Wayne Gretzky), who would probably come up with something like 'Beckham really put some ketchup on those fish and chips'.

With cricket, though I think even the great Johnners stuck to calling it 'swing'.