Sign Up

Sign Up to our forum to unlock all the site features. You can ask questions, answer people’s questions, and connect with other people. Note: Your Profile data is not shared with anyone and it is 100% safe. We do not sell your data or spam your email address.

Have an account? Sign In


Have an account? Sign In Now

Sign In

Please log in to our forum to unlock all the site features and to start connecting with the community.

Sign Up Here

Forgot Password?

Don't have account, Sign Up Here

Forgot Password

Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive a link and can create a new password via email.


Have an account? Sign In Now

Sorry, you do not have a permission to ask a question, You must login to ask question.

Forgot Password?

Need An Account, Sign Up Here

Please briefly explain why you feel this question should be reported.

Please briefly explain why you feel this answer should be reported.

Please briefly explain why you feel this user should be reported.

Sign InSign Up

English Topper Forum

English Topper Forum Logo English Topper Forum Logo
Search
Ask A Question

Mobile menu

Close
Ask a Question
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Groups
  • Communities
  • Questions
    • New Questions
    • Trending Questions
    • Must read Questions
    • Most Answered Questions
  • Polls
  • Tags
  • Badges
Home/ Questions/Q 119
Next
Answered
Ragula Chakradhar
Ragula ChakradharAdmin
Asked: April 19, 20182018-04-19T02:02:32+05:30 2018-04-19T02:02:32+05:30In: English Language

Why are the British confused about us calling bread rolls “biscuits” when they call bread rolls “puddings”?

(Why I darest say, they darest not get offended when they so indeed have examples that violate their own use and nomenclature!) IE: pudding as a specific dessert, puddings as a general term for desserts. Calling something a Yorkshire pudding that is not a pudding and not a dessert.

english
  • 5
  • 5 5 Answers
  • 60 Views
  • 3 Followers
  • 6
Answer
Share
  • Facebook
  • Report

Related Questions

  • How do native speakers tell I’m foreign based on my English alone?
  • Is this statement, “i see him last night” can be understood as “I saw him last night”?

5 Answers

  • Voted
  • Oldest
  • Recent
  • Random
  1. Best Answer
    John Peter
    2018-04-19T02:07:32+05:30Added an answer on April 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    Most British people understand that the English and American English have drifted slightly away, so that we have different definitions of words. Now, to the British people who insists our naming is incorrect, they need to understand that our language is not the same. Please don’t try to tell me thatRead more

    Most British people understand that the English and American English have drifted slightly away, so that we have different definitions of words.

    Now, to the British people who insists our naming is incorrect, they need to understand that our language is not the same. Please don’t try to tell me that we speak the same language, because in all honesty we don’t. However, our languages are incredibly similar.

    See less
    • 5
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
      • Report
  2. Barry Carter
    2018-04-19T02:07:37+05:30Added an answer on April 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    Calling a bread roll a “biscuit” really takes the biscuit. The word comes from French, meaning “twice cooked” (bis – cuit). Are bread rolls twice cooked? Of course modern biscuits aren’t twice cooked either but they were originally. As far as I know no Briton calls a bread roll a pudding, though weRead more

    Calling a bread roll a “biscuit” really takes the biscuit. The word comes from French, meaning “twice cooked” (bis – cuit). Are bread rolls twice cooked? Of course modern biscuits aren’t twice cooked either but they were originally.

    As far as I know no Briton calls a bread roll a pudding, though we do call them lots of other things in different parts of the country, e.g. Baps, Stotties, Buns, Rolls, Bin Lids, Cobs, Batches, Bulkies, Barms, Teacakes, Butties, Nudgers and Blaas (not a complete list).

    See less
    • 4
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
      • Report
  3. James Wane
    2018-04-19T02:07:27+05:30Added an answer on April 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    We aren’t, and we don’t. You are misinformed. In Britain, the word ‘biscuit’ means a hard baked cookie, like a graham cracker. Since this is the normal use of this word in the UK, we don’t automatically think of the plain scone-type baked goods for which Americans use the word ‘biscuit’. US EnglishRead more

    We aren’t, and we don’t. You are misinformed.

    In Britain, the word ‘biscuit’ means a hard baked cookie, like a graham cracker. Since this is the normal use of this word in the UK, we don’t automatically think of the plain scone-type baked goods for which Americans use the word ‘biscuit’. US English is a different dialect of English, and there are many words which have different meanings from U.K. English (jumper, braces, suspenders, tap etc.)

    What on earth makes you think we call bread rolls ‘puddings’? In the U.K., pudding is any dessert, not just the blancmange-stuff which Americans use that word for. It is correct in the U.K. to say “I’m having apple pie for pudding.”.

    See less
    • 2
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
      • Report
  4. Marko Smith
    2018-04-19T02:07:42+05:30Added an answer on April 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    I have never heard a British person EVER call a bread roll a `pudding`. We DO have arguments….mostly of a regional nature. I`ve heard bread rolls called both baps and barmcakes, for instance. But never, ever, a `pudding`. You are misinformed. Or perhaps you are confusing the term with something elseRead more

    I have never heard a British person EVER call a bread roll a `pudding`.

    We DO have arguments….mostly of a regional nature. I`ve heard bread rolls called both baps and barmcakes, for instance. But never, ever, a `pudding`. You are misinformed.

    Or perhaps you are confusing the term with something else…dessert, afters, or whatever you call the sweet course in the US.

    I have many times had a nice scone for pudding. `Pudding `being a common ( if now dated) term used for the second course. It is not the name of the confectionary itself, though, but an indication that it follows the main, usually savoury, course.

    See less
    • -2
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
      • Report
  5. Martin Hope
    2018-04-19T02:07:49+05:30Added an answer on April 19, 2018 at 2:07 am

    They might be as confused as to why you keep calling pudding “biscuits”. Step out of your own cultural context for a minute. You do not own English, and there is no reason that the way it is used elsewhere should be understandable to you, or vice versa. If anyone had rights to the language, for thatRead more

    They might be as confused as to why you keep calling pudding “biscuits”.

    Step out of your own cultural context for a minute. You do not own English, and there is no reason that the way it is used elsewhere should be understandable to you, or vice versa. If anyone had rights to the language, for that matter, it sort of makes sense that it would be English people, right?

    But that doesn’t really matter. English is the first language of millions of people around the globe, and the second language of maybe billions. Not only each disparate group out there using it, but actually each person within each group uses it differently. This is the nature of language–it is dynamic. It grows, evolves, regionalizes, incorporates words from other languages, and changes to meet unique cultural context.

    It is not the role of English people to account to you for their use and understanding of their own language.

    See less
    • -6
    • Reply
    • Share
      Share
      • Share on Facebook
      • Share on Twitter
      • Share on LinkedIn
      • Share on WhatsApp
      • Report
Leave an answer

Leave an answer
Cancel reply

Sidebar

Trending Tags

english interview language

Explore

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Groups
  • Communities
  • Questions
    • New Questions
    • Trending Questions
    • Must read Questions
    • Most Answered Questions
  • Polls
  • Tags
  • Badges

Footer

About English Topper Forum

English Topper Forum is an Online Q&A site which helps every
one to collaborate together and share the knowledge of English Language. People can solve their doubts and can show their creativity by writing stories and overall get the best learning experience possible. This Forum is a part of English Topper.

About Us

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy Policy

Main Site

  • Home
  • Blog
  • Grammar

Follow

© 2021 English Topper Forum | All Rights Reserved