Great news! Advice needed for diamond setting in UK

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/9/2008 11:39:06 AM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 5/9/2008 11:09:36 AM
Author: Lorelei
' Pudding' in the UK traditionally encompasses all types of ' desserts', I think it is one of those things that you say or you do not really! For example, tea to me means a high tea with small sandwiches, cake, biscuits, as well as a pot of tea served mid afternoon, or just afternoon tea traditionally served in it's simplest form as a a cup of tea with cake or biscuits. ' High tea' is more elaborate. Some refer to dinner as ' tea' for some reason. But generally this is what I say and go by!

Breakfast

Lunch

Tea ( mid afternoon)

Dinner with pudding ( if I am lucky!)

Agree with most of this...

Afternoon tea is served around 4pm and is tea, small sandwiches, cake etc

High tea is served around 6-7pm and is cold meats, hard boiled eggs, salad, pickles etc. I tend to do High Tea on a Sunday when you don't want anything that substantial after Sunday luncheon. It's also what you give young children - fishfingers etc

There is then Supper v Dinner.

Supper is something like spaghetti or microwave curries (guilty...) that you eat in the kitchen or on your knee in front of the television (guilty...), whereas Dinner is more formal and involves a table and more than one course - hopefully puddng!

There are savoury puddings as well as sweet puddings - black pudding and steak and kidney pudding come to mind. But all sweet things that aren't cake or biscuits are puddings.

Dessert is a word that like serviette and toilet came into fashion because people thought that they sounded French and gentile.

I like my words British and so use pudding, napkin and loo (lavatory sounds weird if you are under 50

).

I will also admit that there is a lot of snobbery involved in word choice in the UK - I will probably get flamed for this, but you can tell a lot about someone's background depending on if they say:

Loo or Toilet
Napkin or Serviette
Sitting/Living Room or Lounge - (you can only have a Drawing Room if you also have a Sitting/Living Room)
Pudding or Dessert
What? or Pardon
Sofa or Settee

I got into terrible trouble at school over the 'Pardon' one - they tried to make me use it and so I told my teacher that 'mummy says its a worse word than F***'.

Maybe we should start a new 'pudding and other weird anglicisms' thread in hangout. I'm having problems relating it back to sparklies!

I agree. You can tell a lot about someone's background in this manner.

And I really hate the term serviette - yuck.

And what was the reaction Pan, when you told teach that " Mummy says it is a worse word than ----..."

 

[gwendolyn]

Lorelei, thanks for your descriptions! I guess I should've explained that I know what they are, I just want to know WHY they are what they are.

Aye, I know about the non-sweet puddings (which only further complicates matters! I have found that Brits LOVE to confuse people with names of things! It's true, don't deny it

))

Aussies get a lot of lingo from you, but supper for them is after dinner, at 10pm or so, as a late-night snack. My college used to serve biscuits and cakes and things for us at 10pm, and people would stampede to get in there because within 5 minutes, all the plates of food would be gone!

Ok, Pandora, so how do you place me by my language?

Loo or Toilet

Loo. 'Toilet' is a rude word to me.

Napkin or Serviette

Both, because it's "napkin" at home and "serviette" in Australia and I kept some of the vocab from when I lived there.

Sitting/Living Room or Lounge - (you can only have a Drawing Room if you also have a Sitting/Living Room)

Usually it's family room.

Pudding or Dessert

Dessert, unless I'm actually going to eat pudding for pudding, in which case I'll be truthfully saying I'm about to eat pudding.

What? or Pardon

Pardon.

Sofa or Settee

Couch.

I got into terrible trouble at school over the 'Pardon' one - they tried to make me use it and so I told my teacher that 'mummy says its a worse word than F***'.

So, wait, to you 'pardon' is rude and 'what?!' is not?!!

I so don't get it.

"Pardon" is considered cultured and refined at home (in the US), and "Whaaaat?" is considered to be considerably more grating to the ears and not as polite. So, you think the opposite? If I ever meet up with you in London to play with diamonds, are you going to be horribly offended by me?!

(kidding, I hope!

)

 

[Pandora II]

LOL, Americans and all foreigners are exempt!

There are some great books on all this - I''ll look out the titles.

Based on Lorelei''s replies, I would hazard a guess that she is upper-middle class...

''Pardon'' is a horrible word. There is an expression ''Pardonia'' which is used to describe areas of suburbia where everyone has net curtains, eats dessert, and wipes their fingers on a serviette before visiting the toilet and watching TV from their settee.

The correct expression is ''What?'' or if you have to ''Sorry?''.

The teacher looked like I''d hit her and had my parents in. My parents looked totally horrified and told the teacher that she was on no account to teach me ghastly expressions like Pardon!

FI insists on saying ''lounge'' - I just ask him where we are going: only hotels and airports have lounges!

I''ve said we are not having any kids till he stops saying it as it puts my teeth on edge!

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 5/9/2008 12:26:20 PM
Author: Pandora II

LOL, Americans and all foreigners are exempt!

I figured, but it was worth a try.

There are some great books on all this - I''ll look out the titles.

Based on Lorelei''s replies, I would hazard a guess that she is upper-middle class...


''Pardon'' is a horrible word. There is an expression ''Pardonia'' which is used to describe areas of suburbia where everyone has net curtains, eats dessert, and wipes their fingers on a serviette before visiting the toilet and watching TV from their settee.

Hahah, sounds lovely.

The correct expression is ''What?'' or if you have to ''Sorry?''.

That''s so funny. I do sometimes say ''sorry,'' but never ''what.'' Where I come from (a place with no net curtains), it''s highly impolite, and most of the time I try to remember my manners.

Now I wonder how many people think I''m a rude ignorant person, being in Cam as I am! Oh, but wait, I''m from America--they already think I''m rude and ignorant don''t they?

The teacher looked like I''d hit her and had my parents in. My parents looked totally horrified and told the teacher that she was on no account to teach me ghastly expressions like Pardon!

FI insists on saying ''lounge'' - I just ask him where we are going: only hotels and airports have lounges!

I''ve said we are not having any kids till he stops saying it as it puts my teeth on edge!

Hehehe, that''s pretty funny. At least we agree on lounge, then.

Ok, arch-nemesis Cleo, I think I have sullied your thread with my American queries long enough! I will end my hijacking forthwith!

 

[Cleo]

Oh my - I only popped on here for a quick look before I go out and there''s soooooo much I want to reply to!

Just a quickie for now: yes, I studied Biological Sciences at St Catherine''s College Oxford - I matriculated in 1992.

No - I don''t consider us enemies... I love the whole ''Oxbridge'' thing.

I''m going to join in the whole grammar discussion later... you carry on hi-jacking the thread - it''s great!

x x x

 

[gwendolyn]

Date: 5/9/2008 1:39:13 PM
Author: Cleo
Oh my - I only popped on here for a quick look before I go out and there''s soooooo much I want to reply to!


Just a quickie for now: yes, I studied Biological Sciences at St Catherine''s College Oxford - I matriculated in 1992.

Awesome!

No - I don''t consider us enemies... I love the whole ''Oxbridge'' thing.

You only love it because your school start the word out.

I''m going to join in the whole grammar discussion later... you carry on hi-jacking the thread - it''s great!


x x x

Hahah, you''re such a good sport. *blows kisses* I can''t wait to hear your take on things!

 

[Rhea]

Might I suggest "Watching the English" by Kate Fox. Amazon link to book. She covers all manor of weird English sayings and doing that my DH is not able to explain.

I think I''m a very confused person about background and words due to my upbringing, DH''s upbringing, my being American, and the type of clients I work with. I never know which end is up.

ladies (avoids my MIL saying my clients are getting to me when I say "toilet" or my clients thinking I''m snobby when I say "loo")
napkin
living room
dessert mostly
sorry
couch

 

[gwendolyn]

I might have to get that book, Addy--thanks for the recommendation!

I find it fascinating that basically every single city not only has its own accent (which oftentimes seems to be wildly different from anywhere else, even the people who live essentially just down the road in the next town over), but its own vocabulary too. In comparison to the US, the UK is not that big of a place! Yet you''ve all kinds of regional slang and MUCH more pronounced accents (to the point where I was a little afraid of going to Newcastle because just going by the Wiki entry about it with a smattering of Geordie words, I was a little intimidated and that doesn''t figure in the accent!). I guess no one moved towns much in the past?

By the way, I answered ''loo'' earlier, but about half the time I still call it a ''bathroom'' or, occasionally ''the lavatory.'' Not that my answers count anyway since I''m a foreigner, but still! Thought I''d set the record straight.