Today's dismay: currants

[kaberett]

From the department of "divided by a common language": earlier today I was Very Upset about the US use of "coffee cake", which is apparently not a cake flavoured with coffee but rather a (style of) cake eaten with coffee.

(The recipe blog intro writes itself, really; things I am already considering include some kind of poppyseed coffee cake and of course rhubarb coffee cake, which is what precipitated this particular discovery.)

This was upsetting enough by itself but Subsequent Digressions lead to the discovery that apparently in North America "currants" with no other specifiers by default means Ribes, probably blackcurrant, and not, you know, the dried grape.

... via going "hey, this EYB recipe specifies 'currants' as an ingredient for teacakes, but I've previously been informed that that means Ribes fruit not dried grapes, surely some mistake?" and getting back, approximately, "what makes you think dried grapes are relevant??? the version of the recipe in the Guardian just says 'currants'??????"

(The linking step was being Extremely Indignant about having it patiently explained to me that "coffee cake" is like "tea cake". Apparently BUT THE FRUIT SHOULD BE SOAKED IN TEA THOUGH is not a robust defence.)

Comments

[sfred]

:-o

[highlyeccentric]

It’s like pants. The online “divided by a common language” jokes about pants v pants was the first time I even noticed a UK:US difference because we use pants for both and i don’t recall ever being confused/embarrassed by it.

Ditto chips. Lots of kinds of chips, we somehow always know what kind we mean - the only time i remember encountering confusion in all-Aus conversations is chip sandwiches.

[sfred]

In my specific childhood bit of North/West Yorkshire, "pants" means both; it's usually clear which from context.
However, "vest and pants" always means underwear, e.g. "if you forget your PE kit you'll have to do gymnastics in your vest and pants". It's therefore hilarious to me that in USEng, "vest and pants" means "waistcoat and trousers".