>>>In US, they bring you the bill as soon as you slurp up the last scrap on your plate. I was sitting next to a French lady at a restaurant in SF recently, and she became quite indignant when that happened.<<<

THere are many such differences between the US and most other places when it comes to dining out. After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course! This (along with the ubiquitous "doggy-bag" is frankly quite revolting to many people outside the US).

One thing that I find interesting about many Europeans is that they view the world through a very binary lens. It is almost as if they have little identity beyond "not being American". Many Americans with a Europhile complex also take on this affectation. The result is that even well-meaning advice about the "Rest of the World" is no more useful than assuming that American standards dominate outside of the US. The only difference, of course, is that there is an assumption that Europe (or even just the author's own country) is the same as everywhere aside from the US. To whit:

<i>US weekly calendar starts with Sunday (why?) - ROTW starts with Monday.
Don’t just give a calendar a quick glance, read the letters that spell the days above the columns, the third from the left could be a Tuesday or a Wednesday...</i>

While good advice to look at the calendar when making bookings, the reality is that the 'ROTW' does not start with Monday. There are significant differences across countries. In particular, why would a Muslim country, where the work week begins on Sunday, use a calendar that begins with Monday (for this reason many Muslim countries actually start the week on Saturday, as does Swahili)? Beyond that, many other countries beside the US use Sunday to start the week. Heck, Sunday in Hebrew literally means first day. Another example of the traditional place of Sunday as the beginning of the week in Western tradition are the Portuguese names for the weekdays, which are literally 2nd-day (Monday), 3rd-day (Tuesday), and so on. Clearly, in much of Europe, the idea of Monday as the first day is a relatively recent introduction.

<i>ROTW 24-hour format (written, and spoken when formal)</i>

Again, not universally applicable, particularly about the spoken part. I can't recall ever hearing the 24-hour format spoken, outside of war movies. My Danish colleagues informed me that they sometimes use the 24-hour format on the radio, but that this is laughed at.

<i>US the menu word “Entrée" means a main course (why? you don’t “enter” a meal with a main course but with soup or an appetizer...) - ROTW an Entrée is an appetizer.</i>

Why? Well, because the French usage originated because of the entrance of the main course, not because of the entry of the meal. In the most formal settings, the first course would be the amuse-bouche anyway, which kind of shoots a hole in your theory. Sorry, but flanner is right.

<i>US dates MM/DD/YYYY - ROTW DD/MM/YYYY.</i>

Again, not true. Yes, the US format is not standard (though it is in limited use beyond the US), but neither is your "ROTW" format. Indeed, the ISO-defined format is YYYY/MM/DD, which is the best format for computer applications.

<i>Now - can we raise the level of the discussion back up to “grown-up”?</i>

What is not "grown-up" about pointing out that you are wrong?

<i>I was sitting next to a French lady at a restaurant in SF recently, and she became quite indignant when that happened.</i>

Hopefully, she never finds herself in Asia, where service can be dizzyingly fast.

<i>I tried to explain to the lady that the waiter did not want her to leave. He was not pressuring her to go.</i>

Depends upon the restaurant. Some restaurants do want you to go and are pressuring you to leave.

Actually, courgettes are what you call zucchini ;-) French or Italian, take your pick.
The tip about when the week starts is actually quite important.
An American friend said that she was in a branch of Marks and Spencer when the whole shop went silent when a loud American voice rang out, "Does my fanny look big in these?"

"After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course!"

Sorry, but that is not standard American. You're eating at the wrong places with HORRIBLE service. Waiters at most good places could get fired for doing that -- but yes it might happen at a cheap diner. And even a good place can have an occasional bad waiter who could do that. The same with taking away one person's plate before all at the table are finished with the course.

OK
From an American site:
"Marrow squash, also known as vegetable marrow, is a very large, green summer squash. They are related to zucchini, and can grow to the size of a watermelon. They have a bland flavour, and are frequently stuffed with a meat stuffing"
Actually, they can grow really big
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Gallery/G...g/DSCF0680.JPG

A swede is what you call a rutabaga.
BTW, a rubber is what you call an eraser.
In the wet, we wear wellies (Wellington boots)

The DL may have meant well, but I found the OP and his/her followup a bit condescending (and not entirely accurate).

As for calendars, my AMERICAN calendar is Outlook and when I use the weekly option, it starts on Monday, not Sunday.

And as expected, a few posters were unable to restrain themselves from indulging in negative stereotypes about Americans. How original.

....Does anyone know where the phrase "egg plant" comes from?...

There is a yellow form that does look rather like an egg.
I wonder who was the first brave soul to risk eating an aubergine.
If you look at the purple form, it looks just like the fruit of deadly nightshade. I can't remember if you get that in the US. It is actually a member of the same family as is the tomato.
Potatoes are members of the same family and their fruits are poisonous.

"After dozens of visits to the US, I still can't get used to the idea that I should retain the same knife and fork I used for my starter to use for my main course. I've even had waiters in quite up-market restaurants remove my neatly placed, dirty knife and fork off my starter plate and put it back on the table ready for the main course!

Ditto to what NP said. You're dining in the wrong places. I can't remember the last time I had that experience and we dine out frequently. Next time, ask for recs in the U.S. forum.

Ss normal there are two subjects under discussion here
The language and behaviour and secondly the ignorance of Europeans (god knows who these people are as the place does not really exist) and the ignorance of the people of the USA about each other.

It will always be such.

I do like the idea of wearing rubbers to go out into the rain. Erasers as has been pointed out.

The Brits don't have a problem with the French. As someone sensible once said we are all citizens of two countries our own and France. On a trip to France last month I saw an article where the local French Journalist actually said "the french have so seldom beaten the English we should celebrate every time it happens" while the Brits used to make the Fernch get off the train in Waterloo (a famous battle). Neighbours don't you just love em.

Sheila, you guys were being ironic? Who knew?

Just to affirm my existence, I will see 3 things:

1. Since when in <i>steak tartare</i> not a main course?
2. I have been in places in the U.S. where they change the silverware and other places where they don't. Also in France.
3. Most of the people I know use the 24 hour clock <b>when speaking</b>. Perhaps it is a Parisian idiosyncrasy.

in = is

Kerouac, I'm also guessing see = say.

I always get confused when trying to come up with the time using a 24 hour clock. And when I learned French, back when dinosaurs roamed the earth, there was no mention of a 24 hour clock. We learned that 2:30 PM was deux heures et demie, not quarante heures trente. That's how they say it in all the old French movies too. When did the custom change? (Fortunately, everybody seems to understand me when I forget to translate.)

I am pretty sure that all countries have their own name for mobiles or cell phones. In Germany at least, they are called "handys". So, what are they called in France or Italy or Greece?

I took the original post to be a bit helpful. People come over here and make huge mistakes on flight times and arrival dates because they simply do not know about 24 hour clocks, nor the day, month, year thing. Thus, in writing emails, etc. I always write out the month abbreviation or use p.m. or a.m. for times.

Marrows are a misfortune which has not been visited on the USA.

> We learned that 2:30 PM was deux heures et demie, not quarante heures trente.

40 heures ? What's that? ;-)

Quote <b>tarquin:</b> <i>"Marrows are a misfortune which has not been visited on the USA."</i>

Lucky for the USA! Honestly, courgettes should be composted once they exceed 6 inches in length - a marrow is an abomination unto the Lord.

I think the OP meant well, however in an era of almost ubiquitous globalisation (particularly with regards to N.America and Europe) I doubt there was much there that wasn't already widely, or near universally, known and appreciated, so it does run the risk of coming over as somewhat patronising.

Pepperoni = spicy hard salami used primarily as a pizza topping in the U.S.

In the ROTW, it usually means peppers. I've seen this cause a problem w/ American diners in at least 3 countries.

Nikki,

You're right I can't type anymore.

I think the way people talk about time is probably due to the influence of television, which ONLY talks in 24-hour time: le journal de 20 heures, le film de 20h45... The generation that grew up with television finds this perfectly normal. Radio speaks exclusively in 24-hour time as well.

Mainhattengirl, the French call their mobile phones "portables" but they also call their laptops "portables," which sometimes leads to confusion, so they are trying to promote the term "téléphone mobile" or "mobile" in all official usage. (In Southeast Asia, they are all called "handphones" -- I guess the old style phones were used with the feet.)