Local Knowledge can be helpful

fuzzybuddy said:
I'm sorry, all you UKers, it's fries and chips. It's nice about the history of "crisps", but it's still fries and chips.
No McDonalds, in the US, every asked, "Do you want "chips" with that?" Since the first burger hit the grill, it's been, "fries"- you can't argue with that kind of history, especially from McDonalds.
BTW, in the US, we eat fish and chips, so go figure. šŸ¤”
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I don't personally think McDonald's is the best source of history. When I think about it more, neither is history from KFC's Colonel Sanders, for that matter.

I've always seen fries (French fries) and British chips as slightly different things and, therefore expect different things when ordering them. When I order 'fries' in a restaurant in the UK, I expect long, thin fried potato strips. When I order chips in the UK, I expect a significantly thicker cut of fried potato, preferably with a soft and fluffy interior.

Fries are cut in a way that results in a greater surface area for any given weight of potato, and as a result, they contain significantly more fat or cooking oil than British chips. And we think chips are unhealthy? Fires are significantly more so, or can be.
 
I do like biscuits with gravy... first time I ate it was at my cousins in Savannah. ... but they really are not biscuits.
Something happened to those folks on the Mayflower... they sure mucked up the English language :unsure:šŸ˜†
 

I'm in favor of calling potato chips, crisps, if that helps people to understand each other because that's what language should be for - communication. ;)
 
bowmore said:
I agree. When in Melbourne, I went to a restaurant the offered a "box of shrimp". I thought it would be like a basket of fried shrimp. To my shock, I was given a box of cooked shrimp still in the shell with the heads still on!

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No idea why they would call that a box of "shrimp". Clearly it is a box of king prawns.
Prawns are never fried. They are cooked by immersion in boiling water, then chilled.

However, I'm from Sydney, so could be a local aberration.

At a smorgasbord the prawns are always served intact, as shown in the photo.
 
jimintoronto said:
In Canada if you order "chips and gravy " at a cafe, you will get French fried potatoes, with beef gravy on top. Order "Fish and Chips " and you will get French fried potatoes with your battered and fried fish . Ask at the corner store for "A bag of chips " and you will get potato chips in a foil bag . Isn't English a simple language ? Ask for poutine in Canada, and you will get French fried potatoes, covered with beef or chicken gravy, with squeeky white cheddar cheese crumbled on top. Best late night snack, on the way home from the bar. Jimb.
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" Isn't English a simple language ?"

One of my many jobs was as a teaching coach where I would help grammar school teachers who were having trouble teaching their classes. When I would see one of my charges writing a sentence on the blackboard that went like this: "There house is over their." I knew it would be an uphill battle. :(
 
Warrigal said:
No idea why they would call that a box of "shrimp". Clearly it is a box of king prawns.
Prawns are never fried. They are cooked by immersion in boiling water, then chilled.

However, I'm from Sydney, so could be a local aberration.

At a smorgasbord the prawns are always served intact, as shown in the photo.
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Hmm... Drool... you're making me hungry for another batch of king prawns fettuccine Alfredo... Cheers, šŸ¤£šŸ¤£šŸ¤£

Out of Aldi (or Lidl) you can also get neat langoustines. Yummmmmm...
 
Sometimes I think the American name is better. Sometimes the British name sounds better.


Popsicle/Ice Lolly (UK)
Cotton Candy/Candy Floss (US)
Bumper Cars/Dodgems (both)
 

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