My Irish friends may object to me adding this to a Britspeak query, but... When I was heading to Ireland last year, my 14 year old said (she' been there the previous summer) "Just remember - when they give you pudding with brekkers - don't eat it. It's not chocolate it's some burnt piece of meat" (which of since learned was blood sausage (black) or regular (white) sausage. And "when they ask what you want to your waffle, ask for red sauce (ketchup) not syrup cause it's a giant french fry." I've never laughed so hard.

This is about one of the funniest, as well as informative, threads I have read here!! How much fun to celebrate our differences!

Stacey, you're referring to "black pudding", which is a standard part of a traditional "fry-up" breakfast in Scotland and the North of England as well as in Ireland, but generally disdained in the South of England. There are parallels with the North/South divide in the US over the edibility of grits for breakfast! <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR>

I take it that the "giant french fry" is a potato scone. <BR>Black pudding is excellent if it comes from a good butcher, all of the supermarket stuff is too fatty. <BR>There are also white puddings & fruit puddings (yes,lard,cereal,fruit & spices). <BR>Haggis is never offered for breakfast. <BR>Do Americans eat kippers?

Frank, kippers are hard to come by on this side of the water. The predominant form is a frozen Canadian thing which started its poor existence as a kipper but ended up transformed into an oily substance in plastic wrap. <BR>On the other hand, we do have geoducks.

Frank, we don't even know what kippers are. <BR> <BR>Electric kettles are gaining in popularity - they're great in hot climes (no need to turn on a burner and heat up the kitchen) - and upscale kitchen stores are beginning to carry fancier versions. <BR> <BR>The 'just' in front of 'just brilliant' is sarcasm - like "I'm sorry, sir, we can't find your reservation" "oh that's juuuuust great; go any other good news?"

Kippers are a useful alternative to the cardiac arrest breakfast offered in UK hotels - smoked herring on the bone served hot (grilled).Very oily (yum)There are fakes, look for "oak smoked" or "Loch Fyne" kippers & you may avoid artificially dyed non-kippers. <BR>Anything in a plastic bag is fake. <BR>Warning : don't try this at home - to grill kippers you need good extract or no sense of smell. <BR>Note: a "red herring" was originally a type of kipper.

Hmmm...I doubt fish for breakfast (save the lox on the bagels) will ever fly (swim?) in the US. Really, not only are kippers unknown and unavailable here, but I think when people find out what they are, they just regard them as one of those British eccentricities...

Unless I'm very much mistaken, kippers *are* available in the US, not that I'd ever eat one, having a serious aversion to fish. The common British kippers are kippered herrings ("kipper" refers to the smoking & salting process, which is also done to other fish, chiefly salmon). And kippered herring is most definitely available at real Jewish delis and, I assume, elsewhere as well. My father loves them, and I remember smelling them at the table as a child. <BR> <BR>As for haggis at breakfast, I just returned from three weeks in Scotland, and the B&Bs I stayed at did offer haggis at breakfast. It's not traditionally a breakfast food, though, so I guess they just do it to satisfy the tourists' expectations.

Sorry, I know it's off the subject, but stream of consciousness is a funny thing -- all this talk about kippers reminds me of that old joke: <BR>"Do you like Kipling?" <BR>"I don't know, I've never kippled."

hey have enjoyed all these letters, as a kiwi traveller i thought i could go any where. last yr in the states i wanted to wipe my mouth((( it took several attempts(( do you have any serviettes ,&lt;pardon mam ?.&gt; do you have any tissues &lt; pardonnnn mam, ohh you mean a napkin, sure !!!&gt; <BR>Just get out there and give it a go , laugh and you'll go far.

Fun stuff...

"Keen" ....funny posts....I love the word "keen" anything, in fact, I am keen glad I found this thread!

Chaps, no one has mentioned "spotted dick" or "toad in the hole" <BR>One really needs to appreciate the uniqueness of the english language. Read Bill Bryson's book "The Mother Tongue: The English Language". Full of revelations and funny. <BR>Ta Ta.

The 'Green Cross Man' was David Prowse, he played the 'Body' of Darth Vader in Star wars. Rumour has it that he was told that his voice ( a gentle west country drawl ) would be used in the film so he learned all the lines, only to have his voice overdubbed by James Earl Jones. He also had a small part in 'A Clockwork Orange' ( in the same scene as the 'Coronation Street' character Fred Elliot ).

To the top for a giggle.

Topping for Yank.

When we first went to the US, we saw a large notice at the side of a road "Night crawlers". We puzzled about it and decided that it must be a warning about very large lorries/trucks which were so huge that they had to move at night. Here you sometimes see "crawler lanes" for very heavy vehicles. Of course it turned out that night crawlers are fishing bait.

Perhaps a uniquely New York communications problem. On my first trip to London, I saw a sign which indicated "Subway." I went down the stairs, followed the crowd, and found myself on the other side of the street! Assuming that I must have missed something, I went back down and ended up where I started. Never a quick learner, I concluded that a "Subway" in London, and a "Subway" in New York are two different things.

What an interesting list of messages. I'm amazed there can be so many differences in what is basically the same language. <BR>George is right; London slang can confuse anyone - frog and toad - road, jam jar - car and many others. <BR>Can anyone tell me - do we in the UK talk about honour, neighbour, labour and so on, while Americans talk about honor, neighbor, labor and large numbers of others. Someone once told me this was the original English which those emigrating took with them, and that Dr.Johnson brought in the version we currently use. <BR>A question about names - is there a Scottish connection in Texas? Houston is a village outside Glasgow, and Dallas is a very common name in Scotland? <BR>Finally, a funny note - a New Zealand friend of mine told me of how when two friends of hers first came to the UK, they saw a sign saying Way Out and thought something funny must be going on.