american english - "courgettes" vs. "zucchini" under a historical perspective - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange 6 I assume it's because England is pretty close to France, and there are lots of Americans of Italian descent. – Peter Shor Mar 30 '13 at 22:11 5 The British words are borrowed from French, while the American ones come from elsewhere. Eggplant is a novel coinage from a standard formula; zucchini is an Italian borrowing. There's also the vegetable which is called okra (an African borrowing) in the USA, but which I've seen called lady fingers in Malay and Indian English. This is the way dialects diverge and get distinguished, and food items, like other local quotidian terms, are the fastest and most likely to diverge.

– John Lawler Mar 30 '13 at 22:13 2 @tchris, I used "fruit" sic et simpliciter, but now I changed it with "food", thus improving enormously the question :^) – user19148 Mar 30 '13 at 22:42 3 Only tangently realted, when an AmEng speaker hears "lady's fingers" or "lady fingers" the connotation is likely either cookies or tiny fire-crackers. – TecBrat May 1 '13 at 15:16 2 Italians have had more influence on USA than Britain and the French have had more influence on Britain than USA. That is the simple historical reason (i.e. the question being asked at the top). – Sam May 21 '13 at 21:17 What's Zucchini in the UK? British Food Names Sorted By Ferne Arfin Updated January 28, 2016. Zucchini or courgette? Squash or marrow? Eggplant or aubergine? Foods you know may have strange names in Britain.

But they are usually the same things you eat at home. Some of the things British people eat take foreign visitors by surprise and are definitely acquired tastes. Crisp butties (sandwiches made of US-style potato chips), beans on toast and pineapple or canned corn on pizza come to mind. (Check out a Quick Guide to the Mysteries of the British Table) But, most of the time, the ordinary things British people eat are not that different from what North Americans cook up regularly all the time. They're just traveling under assumed names. So, in the interests of helping you cross the American/English language barrier to find the foods you already know and like, to discover the marrow that vegetarians can eat and pickles that aren't cucumbers, I've put together this handy guide. Eat Your Veggies Aubergine is eggplant. When vegetables returned to the British table after the end of rationing in the 1950s (if it wasn't a potato, an onion or a carrot, it wasn't available), they came from the Continent, carrying with them their French names.

Ironically, it was the British who brought this vegetable to western Europe from India, where it is called brinjal (more about that later). The common American name, eggplant, dates from the 18th century because the fruits of the plant then grown in Europe were small, yellow or tan colored and looked like goose eggs. continue reading below our video Beware! The 5 Most Common Travel Scams Beetroot is just another way of talking about beets. Oddly, they are often sold at supermarkets already boiled, in soggy plastic bags. It's possible they've held on to the word root because there was a time when beet greens (a bit like bitter spinach) were more commonly available. But that's just my guess. Courgette came to America from Italy which is why Americans call it zucchini. Ironically, it originated in South America, but I have no idea what the Aztecs called it. Marrow is not only the stuff that comes out of the middle of meat bones, it is also a large, bland vegetable related to zucchini - it looks a bit like zucchini on steroids. Sometimes, in the interests of accuracy, it can be called vegetable marrow.

It's usually stuffed with some kind of savory filling to give it character. Squash is not a vegetable in the UK but a sugary, fruity-flavored soft drink concentrate, with a small amount of fruit juice in it. It's mixed with water. The vegetable squash that Americans are used to is a relative newcomer to Britain. It's usually called by its varietal name - butternut squash, acorn squash - and sometimes orange fleshed vegetables that would be called squash in the USA are lumped together as pumpkin. Shortcuts The British have a habit of dropping words and bits of words from the names of some foods. It can be confusing for North Americans. Egg mayonnaise, for example, is not mayonnaise made from eggs. It's hardboiled egg, halved or sometimes sliced, covered in mayonnaise. Cauliflower cheese is cauliflower and cheese. Macaroni cheese is macaroni and cheese, not cheese made of macaroni. Chicken salad is a piece of chicken - a leg or some sliced chicken - with a lettuce and tomato salad on the side. Ditto ham salad. In fact the American dish of chopped ham with mayonnaise and relish is completely unheard of in Britain.

Pudding and Pies The word dessert does occasionally pop up in people's conversation or on menus, but the sweet course at the end of a meal is almost always called pudding. It's a category that can cover everything from chocolate mousse to fruit salad. The answer to the question, "What's for pudding?" could easily be "Watermelon." But just to be contrary, puddings are not always sweet and they are not always served for pudding (in other words, dessert). A savory "pudding" like Yorkshire pudding is a popover served alongside beef or, in Yorkshire, as a first course with onion gravy. Steak and kidney pudding is a traditional main course steamed inside a pastry. Bake it in the pastry and it becomes steak and kidney pie. And black pudding is a sausage made of pig's blood and a few other more appealing ingredients. Pies on the other hand, are almost never the pudding course and are almost never sweet - with two exceptions - apple pie and mince pies (which are always little, individual tartlets). Other sweet pies are called tarts - lemon tart, Bakewell tart, treacle tart. Pies that are made to stand on their own in thick crusts are known as raised pies.

They're eaten cold, sliced in wedges or served as small individual pies, and made solid with aspic. Melton Mowbray Pork Pies are a prime example. Other meat pies, such as steak and ale pie, have only a top crust - what American's would call "pot pies." And some of the most famous "pies", Shepherd's Pie (ground lamb), Cottage Pie (ground beef) and Fish Pie (fish and shellfish in a creamy sauce), don't have any pastry crust at all - they're topped with mashed potatoes. Miscellaneous Surprises Pickles might be the spears or coins of pickled cucumber that you're used to. But the word is also used to describe vegetable relishes that are similar to chutney but extremely sour or spicy. Brinjal pickle is made from eggplant and Branston pickle, a brand name relish product served with meats or cheeses, is spicy. And one last word - if you've never tasted English mustard, don't slather it on a sausage like American yellow mustard - unless you want to blow the top of your head off. Made from ground mustard powder, English mustard is very very hot - so take it easy.

british english - Is it awkward to use the word "aubergine" instead of "eggplant"? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange 5 Exactly so. Aubergine is, it appears, a diminutive of ‘auberge’ , in turn a variant of ‘alberge’ and that is, a little mystifyingly, a kind of peach. First appeared in print in Englsh in 1796. – Barrie England Jan 25 '12 at 21:28 2 What's really interesting is that in German, the former is almost exclusively called Aubergine while the latter is exclusively known as Zucchini. – leftaroundabout Jan 26 '12 at 12:02 3 Americans also will have no idea what a vegetable marrow might be. – Peter Shor Jan 26 '12 at 13:41 @Peter Shor: That sounds really weird! Do you still call them "courgettes" if you've let them grow really big?

I expect by now most growers use different varieties anyway, but when I was a child helping out on our family allotment, we harvested some of the small marrows early to give the others more chance to grow bigger. And we called those small ones "courgettes" - a real delicacy at the time, as I recall. – FumbleFingers Jan 26 '12 at 16:55 2 The situation in Australia at least in my lifetime post WWII is that we use eggplant and zucchini. I always know aubergine but never remember what courgette means. Both aubergine and courgette sound French to me and always strike me as odd coming from British people given the lack of love between the two countries. If I heard Australians use either it would sound affected. It could well be that we used these words in Australia before the huge cultural influence of America in the wake of WWII. – hippietrail Jan 30 '12 at 11:12 15 Since you say Americans don't use the word aubergine, I take it you're referring to British usage when you say the word "will likely convey a more poetic tone".

But I'm afraid that's complete tosh - it's just the standard word Brits use. I certainly wouldn't expect to see the word eggplant on a supermarket till receipt. In fact, googling "tesco eggplants" currently gets no hits at all, against 73 for "tesco aubergines". A small sample size, I admit - but infinitely in favour of my point. – FumbleFingers Jan 25 '12 at 22:51 @FumbleFingers Please re-read the first sentence. I never said Americans don't use aubergine. – HaL Jan 26 '12 at 15:53 If you have a problem with my comment (which probably has more upvotes than any other comment I've made on ELU in the year I've been here), why not change your answer text to make it clear your reference to "poetic" connotations *only applies to Americans"? – FumbleFingers Jan 26 '12 at 16:46 @FumbleFingers Please see my further non-topical comments in EL&U chat. Thanks.

– HaL Jan 26 '12 at 17:10 @FumbleFingers "although you may send some American readers running for a dictionary" ...that's pretty clearly referring to American usage. Also note "almost exclusively". I do remember hearing 'aubergine' to refer to an eggplant before, but it was on a crossword puzzle or trivia game or some such. – DCShannon Feb 27 '15 at 22:51 Difference Between Zucchini and Courgette | Difference Between Difference Between Zucchini and Courgette • Categorized under Objects , Processed Foods | Difference Between Zucchini and Courgette Zucchini Vs Courgette The reason why zucchini and courgette are being put into much confusion is because they come from one family of vegetables ; both summer squash veggies belonging to the cucurbit vegetable family (Cucurbita pepo). Their colors vary because some are yellow whereas others are green. The etymology of the zucchini vegetable comes from the Italian word zucchino, which literally means a tiny squash or undeveloped marrow. On the contrary, courgette is obviously of French origin.

It can also be regarded as the French term counterpart for the word zucchini itself. Moreover, Zucchini and courgette are the same plant vegetables but are different terms used depending on the dominant language of a specific country. The first is usually used in territories rich in English, which is Northern American or Australian in nature. The latter is being used for French and British English users, as well as, the English speaking public who resides in New Zealand and South Africa. Zucchini and courgette are different from each although they pertain to the same vegetable family that is growing in its various stages of development. In this regard, the market has made a standard definition for both veggies. During its infant growth, these baby plants can already be harvested after reaching a dimension of about 14 by 4 centimeters in length. This size is actually comparable to how small a typical cigar is. At this point, this veggie is best termed as a courgette. In the latter part of this vegetable’s growth, it can already be regarded as a zucchini after growing some more as it grows to about 15-20 centimeters. This veggie is preferably served cooked contrary to its cucumber counterpart.

Lastly, there is also another term for this same plant that has almost matured and has reached its maximum size. At this time, it is already more suitable to call it a marrow. Overall, courgettes are smaller and younger whereas zucchinis are older and bigger in size. Summary : 1.The term Zucchini has an Italian origin while courgette is relatively French. 2.Zucchini is used by those people who speak North American and Australian English whereas courgette is used by those who speak French, British, New Zealand and South African English. 3.Zucchini and courgette are the same plant veggies but are used to refer to that same plant, which is growing across its different stages of plant development. The courgette is smaller and estimated to be about 14 x 4 cm long whereas the zucchini is bigger, which is estimated to grow as big as 15-20 cm.

Related Posts Separated by a Common Language: the big list of vegetables Separated by a Common Language the big list of vegetables Aug 14, 2008 If you're a regular reader, you'll know that I feel shame when I do a post that's mostly just listing "they say this, we say that". There are plenty of sites around that do that kind of straight word-for-word listing. But I get enough requests for vegetable names that I'm just going to try to get it over with right now. Where there are links, that's because I've already written about some of these at greater length elsewhere. I've also already written about veg/veggie and various herbs (and the pronunciation thereof). So please click on those links to discuss those issues in greater detail.

And now, the list (which has no particular order): BrE beetroot (treated as a mass noun) beet (count noun) pepper (sweet pepper if it's not green; one occasionally hears the AusE capsicum) (bell) pepper chick-peachickpea/garbanzo bean haricot beannavy bean broad beanfava bean runner beanstring bean cos lettuceromaine lettuce In addition, some names for groups of vegetables are different. BrE pulses = AmE legumes (though, technically, legume is a broader category). In AmE I'd refer to cruciferous vegetables, meaning broccoli and cauliflower collectively, but in BrE I hear Brassica, the Latin name of the family (which includes cabbage and Brussels sprouts). Squash are another matter. One easily finds acorn and butternut squash (and courgettes/zucchini) in both countries, but otherwise the varieties of squash tend to be different. Marrows will be known to fans of Wallace and Grommit , but the term is not much used in the US.

It refers to "any of various kinds of squash or gourd which are chiefly the fruits of varieties of Cucurbita pepo, eaten as a vegetable; esp. one of the larger round or cylindrical kinds with green, white, or striped skins and greenish-white or (occas.) yellowish pulpy flesh" (OED June 2008 draft rev.), so courgettes/zucchinis are technically small marrows. In the UK I've never seen what we call summer squash* (aka yellow squash--is this a regional difference? Not sure) or spaghetti squash (which was something of a fad in the US in the 1970s, I think, but I haven't seen it lately). The OED lists pattypan (squash) as 'chiefly N. Amer.', but I've only seen it for sale in the UK and South Africa. Pumpkin is generally only used of the orange-rinded variety (for making jack o'lanterns) in AmE, but in BrE the term applies more generally to gourd-y squashes with orange flesh.

(Jack-0-lantern pumpkins have become more available in the UK as Halloween celebrations have become more popular.) The British talk about more kinds of shelled peas (garden peas, petits-pois [for younger, sweeter peas]) than Americans do. (Click on the link for the mushy variety.) As can be seen in the examples presented here, BrE tends to be more influenced by French and AmE shows some Italian influence, which is not surprising since Britain has a lot of contact with France and its cuisine, and popular cuisine in the US has been greatly affected by Italian (and other) immigrants. Those who read Menu Italian may not recogni{s/z}e arugula for Italian rucola, but arugula was the dialectal version of the word that immigrated to America. (Just as rutabaga is not the general Swedish word for that kind of turnip, but a dialectal term for it. Click on the link above for more on that.) I await the first comment that points out a completely obvious one that I've left off the list! *Summer squash for me has two meanings.

Either the general term that refers to any thin-skinned squash, or the specific one that refers to yellow squash that are picked at the same time as courgettes/zucchini. Why do the British refer to their eggplant as an ‘aubergine’? | Macmillan Why do the British refer to their eggplant as an ‘aubergine’? Tweet Why do the British refer to their eggplant as an ‘aubergine’? This Canadian wants to know. Upon my arrival in the UK, I was astounded to find that the Brits not only pronounce the names of some vegetables incorrectly (e.g. tomato) but they even use the wrong words for some. Could this be their desire to seem more “continental”? They have chosen a few vegetables at random and decided to refer to them by their French name. Imagine the Cockney market stall proprietor shouting “Zucchini my darlin?” Now replace this with “Courgette m’luv?”. Sounds infinitely more refined, doesn’t it? Oddly, in a quick check with Wikipedia, I’m told that ‘ zucchini ’ was given its name as it is considered to be Italian in origin.

The article also mentions its use in France for the dish ratatouille . What, no courgette? A quick confirmation from the Macmillan Dictionary tells me they are indeed the same squash! I fondly remember picking snap peas in my grandma’s garden, not waiting for them to be washed or prepared and eating them fresh from the vine. Who could imagine eating a mange tout that had not been blanched until al dente (another one for the Italians-urrà!)? Legume refinement abounds! Filet Mignon anyone? Here the Brits have been sneakier. Instead of going for the obvious French culinary term, they have anglicised it to ‘fillet steak’. But there seems to be some confusion as to when exactly to tip one’s culinary chapeau to the French. I’ve recently been served a pancake that was clearly a crepe. If I desired one rolled and covered in some sweet citrus-flavoured sauce, I suppose I’d have to order a ‘pancake Suzette’. On the other hand, all of us over in North America refer to that staple of the fast food diet as French fries, whilst our British friends rather unceremoniously call them ‘chips’.

One wonders how many food items are referred to in English by the French. At a guess, I’d say few. The Septic's Companion - List of British Words For Eating and Drinking Appliances Clothing Eating and Drinking Events Everyday Speech Insults People Places Science & Nature Sex Sport The Body Travel & Transport Weights & Measures The most common British words or British English terms related to food, drink or drinking. Drinking is a very important part of British culture. afters: n dessert. One would imagine that they�re so named because they come after the main meal, but actually they take their name from their inventor, Sir George After, the Fat Bastard of Brighton. aubergine: n large purple pear-shaped vegetable North Americans will recognise as �eggplant.� baked potato: n potato. Baked. You can buy a baked potato on either side of the pond, of course, but in the U.K. you will specify the filling as you buy the baked potato, while in the U.S. you�ll be brought a small selection of fillings to plonk in yourself. British fillings tend to constitute more of a whole meal than American ones. bangers: n sausages.

Probably most often heard in the name of the dish �bangers and mash� (the �mash� being mashed potato, but I hope to God you worked that out yourself). So called because they make popping noises when you cook them. Banoffee pie: n A charming dessert pie made of bananas, cream, toffee, condensed milk, sugar, butter, methamphetamine and Soylent Green. bap: n 1 small bread roll. 2 woman�s breast (modern slang): Get your baps out, love! bevvy: n alcoholic drink. A contraction of �beverage.� Bill: n the police, in the same sort of a way as �Plod.� There are two possible etymologies: The first, that it�s after William Wilberforce, a Member of Parliament who first proposed a U.K. police service. The second, that all police cars originally had the letters �BYL� in their number plates. The Bill is also a popular U.K. television drama about a police station. biscuit: n cookie. Has nothing to do with what Americans call a biscuit.

bitter: n proper beer, made with hops and served at room temperature (not actually warmed, contrary to popular opinion). The European/American fizzy lager shite is not real beer. brew: 1 n cup of tea: Would you like a brew? Northern English but widely understood elsewhere in the U.K. At a stretch it could refer to coffee, too. 2 n pint of beer: Fancy heading out after work for a couple of brews? brown sauce: n Steak sauce. A mysterious thick brown sort of savoury sauce. Popularly added to burgers, chips and other pub-type food, brown sauce is more than ketchup and less chunky than the American �relish�. I believe it contains vinegar. And probably some other stuff. Also it is brown. bubble and squeak: 1 n dish made from boiled vegetables (often cabbage), potatoes, onions and sometimes some leftover meat. 2 n Greek person, usually shortened to �bubble.� From Cockney rhyming slang �bubble and squeak� / �Greek�: Did you hear Harry�s brother�s gone and started dating a bubble?

butty: n colloquial name for something sold in a chippy that�s served inside a roll or a folded-over piece of bread. It�s a bit of a northern English/Scottish thing, and has more recently started being used to cover pretty much any sort of sandwich. The most popular is a chip butty, but you can also buy bacon or fish butties without seeming strange. May be derived from the German �butterbrot� meaning �butter bread� and referring to a similar sort of dish. candy floss: n cotton candy. The revolting foodstuff one can buy at fairgrounds which resembles a giant blob of fibreglass wrapped around a stick. chipolata: n small sausage. The term originated in Mexico, but somehow never made it big in the U.S. chips: n French fries. However, it�s lately been popular to call thin chips �fries� in the U.K, so Brits at least know what �fries� are these days. Classic chips can be obtained from a chip shop (�chippy�) and are a great deal unhealthier. They also vary quite creatively � if you buy them at 9 p.m.

they are hard, black and crunchy (because they�ve been cooking since 6:30 p.m., when the dinner rush came through) but if you buy them at 3 a.m. you will find them very akin to raw potatoes, right down to the green bits in the middle (because the chippy employees want all of these drunk punters out of the door so they can go home). chocolate drops: n chocolate chips. The idea of �chocolate chips� is enough to turn most British stomachs. The American candy called a �chocolate drop,� but it doesn�t have a lot to do with British chocolate drops. cider: n alcoholic apple juice. To Brits all cider is alcoholic � there�s no such thing as �hard cider� in Britain, and any non-alcoholic apple juice is called simply �apple juice.� Cider is often mixed with a small amount of blackcurrant syrup to form a drink imaginatively titled �Cider and black�. coriander: n cilantro. The herb that tastes like soap, and redefines the term �edible.� Americans still call the fruit of the plant �coriander� but not the leaves. courgette: n zucchini.

I wonder if there�s anything behind the fact that these words both look like they ought to be sports cars. I�m sure someone�s written a thesis on it somewhere. crisps: n potato chips, or any of the corn-based equivalents. It�s worth bearing in mind that crisps in the U.K. cover a wide variety of flavours from Worcester Sauce to steak, and are not restricted to tasting anything like a potato. In fact, producing something that tastes anything like a potato is probably a sacking offence in the crisp factory. This particular confusion has caused me no end of troubles in the U.S. � I�ve never been so disappointed with a �bag of chips� in my life. crumpet: n 1 small teacake made of pancake batter, but with raising agents added to make holes. 2 loose woman. Coming from rhyming slang for �strumpet� (a woman adulterer), crumpet refers to women in a similar (although a little more old-fashioned) way to �totty.� Suffice to say that if you were out looking for some crumpet of an evening, you wouldn�t be intending sleeping alone. In fact, you may not be intending to sleep at all.

Despite it meaning, primarily, a small teacake, it would be difficult to mention such a teacake in the U.K. without someone at the table collapsing in fits of giggles. cuppa: n cup of tea: Surely you have time for a cuppa? custard: n sort of yellowy-looking dessert sauce made from egg yolks and milk. It does sound a little disgusting, but you�ll have to believe me that it�s not. Brits pour it on top of things like apple crumble and sponge cakes. cutlery: n silverware. Knives and forks and stuff. Brits therefore do not have the curious American concept of �plastic silverware.� digestive: n round biscuit that one generally dunks in one�s tea. Whether it aids the digestion or not, who can tell? dinner: n Northern English mid-day meal. This is a bit of a generalisation � the words dinner, �tea,� �lunch� and �supper� seem to be assigned to meals spattered randomly around the day in both American and English regional dialects. double fisting: v holding two drinks at once.

The double-entendre is not entirely lost on the Brits and so it�s best not used in overly polite company. drink driving: n drunk driving. The art of driving a car whilst intoxicated: Sarah�s stuck at home right now, she got done for drink driving last week. Why the Brits chose a phrase that doesn�t make linguistic sense, I am not entirely sure. elevenses: n mid-morning snack. Rather old-fashioned; clearly derived somehow from eleven o�clock. entr�e: n appetizer. Only in America does this not mean �appetizer.� Why, in America, a word that clearly means �enter� or �start� means �main course� is beyond me. Perhaps it�s because American appetizers are about the size of everyone else�s main courses. faggot: 1 n particular variety of meatball. 2 n bundle of sticks. 3 n grumpy old woman (uncommon). 4 n cigarette (uncommon). 5 n prostitute (uncommon). Brits do not use it as a derisive term for a homosexual man.

In reality, the American definition is well known (if not really used) U.K.-wide, so most of the jokes involving the various other meanings have already been made. They all stem from the original Norse word �fagg,� meaning a bundled-together collection of matter. Do prostitutes come in bundles, I wonder. fizzy drink: n carbonated drinks. A generic term much like �soda� or perhaps �pop.� fry-up: n meal (almost always breakfast) consisting of mostly fried stuff (sausage, eggs, bacon and the like). Ideal for those seeking heart disease. gobstopper: n jawbreaker. Very hard sweets intended to break the jaw of the consumer, or at least cause severe injury. haggis: n small Scottish mammal, known better for the unpleasant-tasting dish it is often made into. There has been a lot of concern in Scotland lately that over-farming may endanger the remaining population - if you want to help, please voice your concerns to The World-Wide Fund for Nature. Make it clear that you�re an American, and that you were made aware of the poor creature�s plight by this fine piece of work. high tea: n evening meal; dinner.

Derives from the fact that the meal was typically eaten at the dinner table (the �high table�) rather than the tea table. This usage has become something antiquated recently and the term �high tea� has morphed to refer to the expensive afternoon teas one can buy at posh hotels in the U.K. icing sugar: n powdered/confectioner�s sugar. The very fine sugar used to make cake icing. jacket potato: n baked potato. A potato baked in its skin and usually filled with something. The term �baked potato� is equally well understood in the U.K. jam: n jelly. Sort of. What Americans call �jelly� (fruit preserve without fruity-bits in it), Brits still call jam. What Americans call �jello,� Brits call �jelly.� Oh yes, and what Americans call �jam� is still also called jam in the U.K. I think that�s the jams pretty much covered. jelly: n Jell-o. Gelatinous sweet desert. The Jell-o brand doesn�t exist in the U.K.

British jelly is not like American �jelly� � Brits don�t distinguish between fruit preserves with or without fruit in them � they�re all �jam�. joint: n large side of meat, like a Sunday roast. The Brits, like the Americans, also use the word to refer to cannabis spliffs, which means that these days you�d be unlikely to get away with referring to your �Sunday joint� without someone giggling. lemonade: n a clear, carbonated drink very similar to Sprite or 7-Up, but with only lemons instead of limes. In the U.S. (and in the U.K., but under the moniker �traditional lemonade�) the word �lemonade� refers to a variant that, for want of a better description, is a bit more lemony. It�s darker in colour, not carbonated and often contains bits of lemon. Nowadays young drinkers on street corners in both the U.K. and the U.S. enjoy alcopop lemonade (�hard lemonade�), which is carbonated on both sides of the Atlantic.

By that I don�t mean it�s carbonated on one side of the Atlantic, then flown over and carbonated on the other prior to sale. But you knew that. Marmite: n a sandwich spread based upon yeast extract. Similar to �Bovril,� which is made from beef extract. Australians have a very similar spread called �Vegemite,� which is a little less sharp in taste. marrow: n squash. The vegetable. mince pie: n a sweet pie, traditionally served at Christmas, containing suet and mixed fruit. Not mincemeat. Step away from the mincemeat. No mincemeat to see here. Traditionally they did contain mincemeat, as the easiest way to preserve meat was to mince it and then mix it with various fruits. Actually, that probably isn�t the easiest way at all. The easiest way is probably to bury it in salt. Anyway - the animals having been slaughtered prior to the onset of winter, the mince pies were enjoyed at Christmas because the �preserved� meat was by then pretty much ready to walk out the door by itself. But it was okay, because everyone was kinda drunk.

nosh: 1 n food: Right, the pub�s shut, let�s get some nosh. 2 v perform oral sex: Rumour has it she didn�t answer the phone because she was noshing the vicar at the time. on the lash: adj out drinking: Bob�s in a terrible state since he got divorced � I think he�s been on the lash every night. peckish: adj hungry. Absolutely nothing to do with �pecker.� Only a little hungry, mind, not ravenous - you wouldn�t hear people on the news talking about refugees who�d tramped across mountains for two weeks and were as a result a little peckish. pickle: n 1 a sort of brown, strongly flavoured blobby mass that people put in sandwiches. I�m really not very sure what it�s made of. Pickled something, one can only hope. 2 any sort of pickled cucumber or gherkin (universal). piece: n Scottish packed lunch. Quintessentially Scottish: Will ye be coming for lunch, Willie? / Nah, ah�ve brought ma piece. pips: n seeds. The little seeds in the middle of fruit guaranteed to get stuck in your teeth.

pissed: adj drunk. Brits do not use it alone as a contraction of �pissed off,� which means that Americans saying things like �I was really pissed with my boss at work today� leaves Brits wide-eyed. go out on the - venture out drinking. taking the - poking fun at someone. May well be a throwback to the U.S. use of the word. pogged: n Northern English stuffed; full of food. Derivation is anybody�s guess. Pot Noodle: n Cup-o-Noodle. Little pots of noodles, upon which you simply pour boiling water to the �fill level� and lo, all of a sudden you have a perfectly delicious and nutritious meal for one. One student, one overworked employee or one neglected pensioner, normally. I don�t think it mentions that on the pot. prawn: n the least powerful piece on a chess board. OK, I lied. It�s a shrimp. pudding: n dessert: If you keep spitting at your grandfather like that you�re going to bed without any pudding! Brits do also use the word in the same sense as Americans do (Christmas pudding, rice pudding, etc).

The word �dessert� is used in the U.K. but really only in restaurants, never in the home. To complicate things further, the Brits have main meal dishes which are described as pudding - black pudding and white pudding. These are revolting subsistence foods from the dark ages made with offal, ground oatmeal, dried pork and rubbish from the kitchen floor. The difference between the black and white puddings is that the black one contains substantial quantities of blood. This, much like haggis, is one of those foodstuffs that modern life has saved us from but that people insist on dredging up because it�s a part of their �cultural heritage.� Bathing once a year and shitting in a bucket was a part of your cultural heritage too, you know. At least be consistent. rat-arsed: adj exceedingly drunk. Also abbreviated as simply ratted. Possibly derived from a time when dead rats would be dangled in cider vats to give them extra flavour. At least, according to the person who told me that. rocket: n arugula. salad cream: n A mixture of mayonnaise and vinegar often put on salads. Perhaps unsurprisingly. sarnie: n abbrev sandwich.

A little bit slang-ish - you won�t find a �lightly toasted roast beef sarnie served on a fresh bed of rocket� in your average poncy restaurant. savoury: n non-dessert food. Food such as potatoes, bread and meat are savouries. Things like ice cream and meringues are �sweets,� which is defined elsewhere in this fine work. Probably further on, as it�s supposed to be in alphabetical order. scone: n pron. �sk-awn,� not �sk-own� biscuit. Sort of. A quintessentially British foodstuff, scones are somewhere between a cake and a subsistence food. The British word is creeping into the U.S. via coffee shops. Can a word creep? Scotch: a contraction of the word �Scottish,� this is now only used in the context of foodstuffs (and even then really just Scotch eggs), and whisky � Brits refer to anything else as being �Scottish.� So those from Scotland aren�t Scotch people; they are Scottish people. If they were Scotch people, they would be made primarily from whisky.

Oh, wait� Scotch egg: n a somewhat peculiar delicacy - a hard-boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and coated in breadcrumbs. My mother used to put them in my packed lunch every day for school. scrummy: adj delicious. I believe that this is a childish amalgamation of �yummy� and �scrumptious�: This jelly and ice-cream is scrummy! Scrumpy: n strong alcoholic cider. While traditionally the word refers to home-brewed cider (scrumping being the stealing of apples), it has more recently become associated with a high-alcohol brand named Scrumpy Jack. Don�t go near the stuff. I drank some at university one evening and all sorts of bad things happened. serviette: n napkin. The thing you put in your lap to block the path of food falling onto your clothes. shandy: n an alcoholic mix of lager and (British) lemonade. Usually 90% lager and 10% lemonade, and generally drunk by people convinced that they can get as drunk as a skunk on shandy and still be fine to drive the car.

Shandy has also given us such retail gems as Top Deck, a canned drink which contains not only the cheapest lemonade money can buy, but rounds it off nicely with a dash of the grottiest beer available west of the Himalaya. skinfull: n the amount of alcohol necessary to make one clearly inebriated. If you have a skinfull at lunch, you�ll be less likely to go back to the office and more likely to see whether you could urinate as high as the top of the �M� in the McDonalds logo. smart: 1 adj well dressed: You�re looking very smart today. Job interview? 2 adj intelligent (universal). Smarties: n small sugar-coated chocolate candies, not entirely dissimilar to chocolate M&Ms. Not related at all to the American candy product of the same name, which in the U.K. is known as Fizzers. soldiers: n strips of bread meant for dipping into a boiled egg. And yes, Brits also use the word to describe people who are in the army. To the best of my knowledge this duality of meaning has never caused any enormous problems.

spotted dick: n a suet pudding with raisins in it, often served on festive occasions and with custard. And yes, the Brits do use �dick� to mean the same thing Americans do. squash: n cordial; diluted fruit drink. It�s a little outdated - you�d be more likely to find your grandmother offering you �lemon squash� than you would your children. The vegetable that Americans call a �squash,� Brits call a �marrow.� starter: n appetizer. The dish you eat prior to your main meal. sultana: n golden raisin. Vine-dried green grape. supper: n Scottish takeaway meal served with (British) chips. When dish x is served in a Scottish chip shop with chips, it becomes an x supper. What the English call �fish and chips,� the Scots call a fish supper. swede: n rutabaga. sweet: 1 n candy: Never take sweets from strangers, or you�ll end up a dismembered corpse, rotting in a ditch like your auntie Jean. 2 n dessert (particularly in restaurants). swift half: n a half pint of beer, had swiftly before departing.

Although quite often it�s not really that. You might propose having a swift half with some people after work, when in reality you know that it probably won�t be just one swift half, it�ll be sixteen swift halves like last Wednesday, when Ernie ended up breaking his arm and you had sex with that homeless person. take-away: n 1 take-out food: I think we�re just going to get take-away. 2 take-out restaurant. A hot food retailer (personally I think in this instance �restaurant� is a little too strong) which only sells things that you can take home and eat or stagger down the street drunkenly stuffing in your mouth and distributing down your shirt. Blimey, that tastes good. Damnit, I�ve left my credit card in the pub again. Where are my keys? tater: n Northern England potato. Not exactly sure how America ended up calling the greasy French-fry derivatives �tater tots.� tea: n evening meal. At the risk of sounding terrible, it�s just a little �working class.� Maybe that doesn�t sound all that terrible. There are lots of more terrible things I could say. Ask my parole officer. tea-break: n coffee-break.

A break away from work, ostensibly to have a cup of tea, but perhaps also to have coffee or a sly fag. the razz: an evening spent out drinking. Both Americans and Brits use the term �razzing� to describe teasing someone. tipple: n a demure, civilised drink. Usually of sherry, Martini or some other light spirit measure. You grandmother might acquiesce to a tipple before dinner. My grandmother, as it happens, acquiesced to several tipples before dinner, and a few after. toad in the hole: n a delicacy consisting of sausages in Yorkshire pudding batter, in a sort of pie shape. The etymology is a tough one to guess at, as the dish itself contains no obvious holes and it�s difficult, although not impossible, to confuse sausages and toads. tomato sauce: n tomato ketchup. In the U.K. these two terms are interchangeable although �tomato ketchup� is in more common use, as tomato sauce could equally easily refer to the pasta-type sauce in a jar or can. treacle: n 1 molasses.

2 darling; honey, An affectionate and familiar term of address, not necessarily implying that there�s a sexual relationship going on, but sort of hinting that one might be plausible: Afternoon treacle! Haven�t seen you since that party at Mike�s house. trolleyed: adj extremely drunk. Perhaps the term came from something to do with ending up in hospital. No idea. tuck in: v eat enthusiastically; dig in: Well, come on, tuck in before it gets cold! This is probably related to the term �tuck shop�, which similarly uses the word �tuck�. Also it might not be related at all. wetting the baby�s head: n an evening in the pub celebrating the birth of a new baby. The event generally involves only the father and his mates, whilst the wife sits at home in a state of exhaustion surrounded by fresh nappies: Are you coming out on Friday? We�re wetting the baby�s head down at the Four Coachmen. wholemeal flour: n whole-wheat/whole-grain flour. I�ve no idea about food; I hope it�s not apparent. I just type what people tell me like a big unpaid secretary.

wife-beater: n beer with high-alcohol content: Give me a gin and tonic and a pint of wife beater. Brits do not use the American definition of the term (a ribbed, sleeveless undershirt).

Question: What do the British call the vegetables that Americans call zucchini?
Answer: COURGETTES