Telling time in U. K. English

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by wodin

Despite the uncivilized hours of operations of the pubs and the most horrid weather imaginable, and oh yes and the warm beer*, I have fond memories of my time in Scotland.

* see also: Irn Bru (blech!)

[wodin]

Originally Posted by djchapple

The Americans love turning nouns into verbs, for example "deplaned" for leaving an aircraft. I find that bastardisation of the language annoying.

"Deplane! Deplane!" is what Tattoo would say to Mr. Roarke at the beginning of each Fantasy Island episode.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

* see also: Irn Bru (blech!)

I'm not sure, bu I think I might have drunk some of that mixed with Scotch.

[issybird]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Toast at breakfast usually comes pre-buttered by the staff; however, I jelly (put jelly/jam upon) all of the slices up front as well.

Originally Posted by DMB

Yes. I cut off a bite-sized piece of toast, butter it and spread it with marmalade.

Ah, toast! Where one can choose between hot and soggy American toast, or dry and cold British toast....

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by issybird

Ah, toast! Where one can choose between hot and soggy American toast, or dry and cold British toast....

Exactly!

[mrbanana]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

Since it's my thread, I'll hijack it further to say that I was confused at British mention of making sandwiches with brown bread? Here, that's eaten hot dogs and baked beans! We have no generic term for non-white bread that I know of, but would specify the type (whole wheat, rye, etc.).

Whole wheat bread is called wholemeal bread in Britain.

Brown bread can be used to mean wholemeal bread, but if you go to a supermarket and buy brown bread, you're actually buying white bread with brown colouring. In the supermarkets it's very hard to find rye bread. I've tried. The closest is Sainsburys which has a freshly baked half rye and half wholemeal loaf. Though there's just been something in the papers recently about freshly baked supermarket bread actually being made from frozen dough which can be years old, and so shouldn't really be called fresh bread.

As others have said I was also taught that you never cut a bread roll with a knife, you break it with your fingers.

One eating habit my last American girlfriend had which I could never understand was holding your fork with your left hand, your knife with the right hand, cutting up some of your food, putting the knife down, transferring the fork to your right hand, eating with your right hand, and then transferring the fork back to your left hand, picking up the knife and cutting up a bit more of your food, then repeating the process as many times as necessary until you have finished. That always seemed overcomplicated to me. But then I guess it's no stranger than watching a right handed English person try to eat a plate of peas off the back of a fork held in their left hand.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by SeaBookGuy

* see also: Irn Bru (blech!)

Originally Posted by wodin

I'm not sure, bu I think I might have drunk some of that mixed with Scotch.

I doubt it. You'd prolly be dead.

[mrbanana]

Originally Posted by wodin

They had an uncivilized custom there, in that they would shutter all of the pubs during “Queen’s Hour”, which as I recall happened every day between 2:00 and 4:00 PM. The locals called these unfortunate periods “Tea Time”, and they were most inconvenient for a young Yank sailor with limited free time.

If this is over fifteen years ago that was just standard British licensing hours, (introduced during the first world war to increase munitions factory productivity), and was abolished some years ago. Pubs now generally open from 11am or noon to 11pm now, though some can open later.

I remember one way around this restriction was to get on a train with a bar, which was not covered by the same licensing rule, so you could drink all afternoon. The simplest way in London was to hop on a train to Brighton, and then come straight back.

Another way around the rule was to join a drinking club, a private members club, which was allowed to serve all day.

If you weren't a member of a private drinking club you next option was to get a 'lock in'. In other words, make friends with the bar staff, and stay behind when they closed.

These days, if you have a very late night and you want a nightcap around 6AM you have to go to the pubs around the various markets dotted around London like Smithfields, as some of the pubs have special dispensations to open at odd times.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by orlok

I doubt it. You'd prolly be dead.

Scotch + Irn Bru would be guaranteed to cause a round of vomiting not even the most senile person would ever forget!


No rye bread? It's rather ubiquitous here - I dislike caraway, so must be vigilant to avoid sandwiches made from seeded rye; as a double whammy, I loathe corned beef, so only eat pastrami ruebens. This "half rye" loaf sounds rather like "marbled" ones here.

As for handling cutlery, that's just how we continue to do so. As most people, such as myself, are right handed, I find it tedious that the cutlery goes on the left at restaurants.

[wodin]

@mrbanana,

Yes, it was in the ‘60s.

It's good to see that our forefathers in the UK are at least making a little progress towards becoming civilized, but you still have a little ways to go. Pubs closing at 11pm!?

I remember that they closed at 10pm; then we would go to the US Navy club at Sand Bank, which would stay open till around midnight.

[Bookworm_Girl]

Originally Posted by mrbanana

Whole wheat bread is called wholemeal bread in Britain.
Brown bread can be used to mean wholemeal bread, but if you go to a supermarket and buy brown bread, you're actually buying white bread with brown colouring.

Interesting. I've always assumed that whenever I order brown bread that I was getting whole wheat. So can anyone explain why the English put butter on their sandwiches? I've never gotten a good explanation. I always have to remember when I order a ham sandwich to say no butter please and add mayo to make it American style.

[Xanthe]

One of my cousins moved to England and when she returned to the US, I peppered her with questions that I had accumulated over the years from reading English mystery stories.

One of my first questions was, "I know there is a Left Luggage in train stations. Is there also a Right Luggage?", not realizing that "Left Luggage" was another name for "Lost and Found".

[Fbone]

I just had a smoked ham [with provologne] sandwich on rye bread with caraway seeds. It hit the spot.

I am not fond of sour dough bread, though.

[SeaBookGuy]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Interesting. I've always assumed that whenever I order brown bread that I was getting whole wheat. So can anyone explain why the English put butter on their sandwiches? I've never gotten a good explanation. I always have to remember when I order a ham sandwich to say no butter please and add mayo to make it American style.

I once worked in a small office, and my boss would eat sandwiches with butter, instead of mayo/mustard, claiming she was used to that from her Danish-American upbringing? Since you're over there every so often, ever tried one of those "chip butties" (as far as I can make out they're something like a sub roll filled with french fries)?

[elcreative]

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

Interesting. I've always assumed that whenever I order brown bread that I was getting whole wheat. So can anyone explain why the English put butter on their sandwiches? I've never gotten a good explanation. I always have to remember when I order a ham sandwich to say no butter please and add mayo to make it American style.

Because that's the way the sandwich was provided to Lord Sandwich when he requested a snack at the card table...