Re: OT: Two countries separated by a common language

----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark J. Reed" <markjreed@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 1:01 AM
Subject: Two countries separated by a common language


> On Thu, May 15, 2003 at 07:52:55PM -0400, Mark J. Reed wrote:
> > The first time I ran across "gaol" - in a British novel
> > I read  in college - I had absolutely no idea what it was.
> > Even after reading enough context to determine that it referred
> > to some sort of prison, it just never occurred to me that it could
> > be an alternate spelling of "jail".  I mean, it so clearly must be
> > pronounced "gay-ole", or perhaps "gowl" (rhyming with "fowl").  I
> > just assumed it was some sort of foreign borrowing akin to "gulag".
>
> Excuse me for replying to myself, but I just thought of another
> Britishism that took me unawares: "biscuits".  The Hitchhiker's
> Guide series scene in which Arthur gets into a biscuit battle with
> someone in the airport struck me as very odd.  Biscuits in a bag from
> a vending machine??  Having grown up in Georgia, I  knew exactly
> what biscuits are, and they don't come from vending machines.
> They're yummy doughy breakfast breads, similar to scones, but softer
> and served hot, with butter or gravy, or perhaps a sausage patty.
> Yum.  :)
>
> -Mark
Biscuits are an Englishism?  I suppose you guys would call them 'cookies'.
Or something like that...

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