Slightly off the subject, but when did it change from half crowns, guineas and shillings to the boringly sensible current system?

1971

When will they abolish the monarchy?

did I dream hearing about some bloke who died in an eating contest from trying to consume too many fairy cakes?

think it was in Wales. does that count?

regards, ann

He choked on fairy cakes. I think I read he had 5 in his mouth & they couldn't clear his airway. It was a buffet & they all decided not to let the food go to waste so there was a contest. He lost. :(

xxx

Carrybean, I was wondering about that story! What are fairy cakes BTW?

I think the US equivalent is called cup cakes.

Google is your friend - have a look at this:http://www.businessballs.com/moneyslanghistory.htm.

It's a good summary of what all the slang names mean, and more besides. Those of us with a memory pre-1971 will be quite at home with tanners, crowns, farthings and the joys of having 240 pence to a pound. I still get puzzled looks from my offspring if I refer to something as 'tuppenny-ha'penny', ie cheap and worthless.

What makes Britain Great? What we've given to the world. Democratic Government, our Press, what is becoming the world's universal language and being able to say what you damned well like without being marched off to prison, even if you might be watched fairly carefully afterwards. And not being French.

And another thing - fairy cakes. They are sickly sweet sponge things that elderly aunts seem to think children like, and that school children make early on in cookery lessons. What I understand to be cup cakes are in a paper or foil case and have thick icing (frosting? - what a versatile language) on top. Equally vile.

i think this proves that the U. S. is a close relative of Britain, 'cause almost all of those are also true about the U.S. no wonder I feel so at home when I'm in Britain. :)

a fairy cake-

make a standard sponge mixture.

half fill small cake cases x n

bake at 160C for approx. 15 mins til well-risen and golden brown.

leave to cool.

decorate top with icing, hundreds and thousands ["sprinkles" to you], choc vermicelli, etc.etc.

consume singly unless you want end up like the dead bloke.

to make the above into a "butterfly cake" - after cooling, cut off the top of the cake level with the case, cover the cut surface of the cake with icing, cut the top in two and replace on the icing so that they form wings.

consume singly as above.

regards, ann

Ann, thanks for the fairy receipt. I esp. like the "choc vermicelli" bit. stfc, the "not being French" is quite funny.

bk

And there's a "trendy retro" market for them too - these people sell in the chic-er bit of Brick Lane:

http://www.crumbsanddoilies.co.uk/scrapbook.html

On the pizza faster than an ambulance thing. When I worked on the White City we did an experiment.

We called a police response call car, a pizza delivery service and a crack dealer. The arrival times:

Crack: Three minutes (and he had quite a suprise)

Pizza: ten minutes.

Plod: Twenty minutes.

Other things that make Britain great:

We have a Royal society to protect animals and just a national society to protect children.

we refer to that place on the other side of he channel as "Europe" and we don't think we're part of it.

We think that london to birmingham is a very long way indeed.

We can't make pizza - I think we boil it.

"We can't make pizza - I think we boil it"

Surely the best pizza should be fried, no? Ask any Scot.

Also, we are responsible for most of the worlds greatest inventions and discoveries:-

The jet engine.

Penicillin.

Light bulbs.

The Creme Egg.

J R Hartley -

I would love to know where these things originate. I was e-mailed on the 12 May 2006 the same 'Being British'. The reason the date is so accurate is that I kept the e-mail just to give me a chuckle every now and then so thanks for the laugh.

It just reminds me how stupid us 'humans' can be not just the 'British'