The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

[Morning Glory]

Oh I thought the distinction was coriander seeds and coriander for the leaves. Thanks for clarifying

Coriander seeds are the same in the US and UK, as is ground coriander. But in the UK, we say coriander seeds more often I suppose, to distinguish them from simply coriander (which means just the leaves in the UK). So you are correct in terms of UK usage.

 

[Windigo]

Coriander seeds are the same in the US and UK, as is ground coriander. But in the UK, we say coriander seeds more often I suppose, to distinguish them from simply coriander (which means just the leaves in the UK). So you are correct in terms of UK usage.

Thanks.

I'm still confused though, I posted this chart because I most often see terms used in the way it's written there except for the sweets and candy thing you mentioned.

I guess it's very hard not to be confused as a non native speaker on the internet because it's often hard to tell if the writer was a Brit or American for an outsider unless there are obvious giveaways . I must make these mistakes quite often I suppose.

 

[Morning Glory]

I guess it's very hard not to be confused as a non native speaker on the internet because it's often hard to tell if the writer was a Brit or American for an outsider unless there are obvious giveaways . I must make these mistakes quite often I suppose.

I don't really notice you making mistakes at all.

But, take 'capiscum' for example, if you look at a UK supermarket the bell peppers are not labelled capiscum. In fact they are usually simply labelled peppers unless they are a specialist kind like Romano:




Tap 'sweets' into the search engine (Morrison's in this case) and you get several pages of:

 

[Windigo]

I don't really notice you making mistakes at all.

But, take 'capiscum' for example, if you look at a UK supermarket the bell peppers are not labelled capiscum. In fact they are usually simply labelled peppers unless they are a specialist kind like Romano:

View attachment 81902


Tap 'sweets' into the search engine (Morrison's in this case) and you get several pages of:

View attachment 81903

Yeah bell peppers or just peppers is the one I've heard used most in England too, maybe the maker of the chart was confused themselves.

We Dutch use the word 'Paprika' for bell peppers, and when I was younger I was very confused by Brits using 'paprika' and then grabbing a spice jar. Until I got older and realised that's the name for what we call 'paprika poeder' or bell pepper powder when translated literally from Dutch.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I thought this was helpful though the last one is debatable
View attachment 81891

Yeah, I agree with CD. But I don't know anyone who has ever used the term sweets before. Candy is candy and dessert is dessert.. Also, a popsicle is a frozen treat on a stick. We also have lolly (lollipop) which are candies on a stick. So in the UK, a lolly is frozen?

Also we have Shandy, but ours is not sweet, it's just beer with lemon. I've never seen beer with lemonade. Here lemonade is a sweetened diluted lemon juice drink.

 

[JAS_OH1]

I don't really notice you making mistakes at all.

But, take 'capiscum' for example, if you look at a UK supermarket the bell peppers are not labelled capiscum. In fact they are usually simply labelled peppers unless they are a specialist kind like Romano:

View attachment 81902


Tap 'sweets' into the search engine (Morrison's in this case) and you get several pages of:

View attachment 81903

When I am shopping online, "trolley" is "cart" here.

 

[Morning Glory]

So in the UK, a lolly is frozen?

Its short for lollipops. They can be either frozen (in which case its called an ice lolly) or like a 'boiled sweet (candy)' on a stick:

Ice lolly:

 

[JAS_OH1]

Its short for lollipops. They can be either frozen (in which case its called an ice lolly) or like a 'boiled sweet (candy)' on a stick:

View attachment 81904

Ice lolly:

View attachment 81905

Okay, good to know. The top is a lollipop here, the bottom is a popsicle. Interesting!

 

[Morning Glory]

When I am shopping online, "trolley" is "cart" here.

That's right. The physical ones in the supermarkets here are called trolleys too.

 

[JAS_OH1]

Thanks.

I'm still confused though, I posted this chart because I most often see terms used in the way it's written there except for the sweets and candy thing you mentioned.

I guess it's very hard not to be confused as a non native speaker on the internet because it's often hard to tell if the writer was a Brit or American for an outsider unless there are obvious giveaways . I must make these mistakes quite often I suppose.

Your knowledge of both "American" English and UK English is far superior to that of most people not native to the tongue! Most people who learn English outside of the US learn "proper" English. I have heard commentors on Bloomberg who are in other countries and are not English born speak it with a distinct English accent.

 

[JAS_OH1]

That's right. The physical ones in the supermarkets here are called trolleys too.

Yes, they are "carts" up here in the north, but in the south US they are often referred to as "buggies" in some regions (and carts).

 

[Windigo]

Your knowledge of both "American" English and UK English is far superior to that of most people not native to the tongue! Most people who learn English outside of the US learn "proper" English. I have heard commentors on Bloomberg who are in other countries and are not English born speak it with a distinct English accent.

Thanks, I once did the Oxford university test of knowledge of the English language for foreigners and scored an 8+ ( that's very good, 10 is best) . Yet, I still found out that my understanding of the written word is quite something else than the way people actually communicate in daily life.
I have been fluent in written English all my life, but I can only say I mastered speaking it only by living there. And because I've been back home in Holland for so long now, I've lost my Yorkshire dialect and got my Dutch accent back which sounds ugly lol

 

[JAS_OH1]

Thanks, I once did the Oxford university test of knowledge of the English language for foreigners and scored an 8+ ( that's very good, 10 is best) . Yet, I still found out that my understanding of the written word is quite something else than the way people actually communicate in daily life.
I have been fluent in written English all my life, but I can only say I mastered speaking it only by living there. And because I've been back home in Holland for so long now, I've lost my Yorkshire dialect and got my Dutch accent back which sounds ugly lol

But you know a lot more slang from both versions of English than most. And I find the Dutch accent charming. We have Amish people here in NE Ohio and areas of Pennsylvania who speak "Pennsylvania Dutch" and when they speak English, I am not sure how close it is to your accent, but it's lovely sounding the way it rolls off their tongue.

 

[Windigo]

But you know a lot more slang from both versions of English than most. And I find the Dutch accent charming. We have Amish people here in NE Ohio and areas of Pennsylvania who speak "Pennsylvania Dutch" and when they speak English, I am not sure how close it is to your accent, but it's lovely sounding the way it rolls off their tongue.

I suppose that's because I was with a Brit for 5 years and I dated an American for 3 I have a thing for expats lol because my exes are a Finn , a Brit and an American. My husband is the first Dutchman I dated! Lol

Pensylvania Dutch is a form of German called ' heag Dietsch ' ( high German) and is a form of German, not Dutch language as spoken in the actual Netherlands/ Holland ( confusing eh? ) so I expect it sounds quite different

 

[JAS_OH1]

I suppose that's because I was with a Brit for 5 years and I dated an American for 3 I have a thing for expats lol because my exes are a Finn , a Brit and an American. My husband is the first Dutchman I dated! Lol

Pensylvania Dutch is a form of German called ' heag Dietsch ' ( high German) and is a form of German, not Dutch language as spoken in the actual Netherlands/ Holland ( confusing eh? ) so I expect it sounds quite different

I am not sure it would sound vastly different to most Americans (unless they had spent some time in the Netherlands and/or Germany).

One of my nephew's wife is from Berlin (she speaks 3 languages fluently and bits and pieces of several others). She works for the embassy and they travel around quite a bit. I haven't seen them in a long time because they haven't been in the US since about 2000, unfortunately. Anyway, I could rarely detect any accent when she spoke English, I suppose being married to an American (and interacting with international diplomats on a regular basis) does make a difference!