Why do yanks compare American southern accent to English

Quintus   Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:06 am GMT
Britons might be at least vaguely familiar (from American movies) with the term "peanut butter and jelly sandwich", a formula which reveals the chief purpose for U. S. fruit "jelly" (most often grape jelly). Otherwise, the colonists like to spread it on toast, apple jelly being also favoured--as is apple butter, which is much richer as having been caramelised in production.

Dundee Marmalade is a premium imported brand quite well known in America. However, there are several domestic brands of marmalade offered Stateside as well.

Sadly, gooseberry jam --my favourite in Ireland-- is practically unknown in the U. S. Some consolation may be found in the commonly available raspberry jam, although it seems strawberry is the variety of jam best loved by Americans.

Things can get very fancy, with ever more elaborate concoctions to tempt the palate, such as whole lemon, Cointreau and fig marmalade (all that in the one jar), apricot orange marmalade, whiskey and jalapeƱo pepper jelly, blueberry ginger conserve, Amaretto peach pecan preserves, and wild huckleberry peach champagne jam.
Suspicious   Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:48 am GMT
Is Quintus really Robin Micheal?
Nobody else (with the exception of Damian) is that boring.
Quintus   Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:52 am GMT
No, I'm just Quintus, Sus, and to the eye of a certain beholder I would be that boring, wouldn't I ?- However, you will note that I was replying to other correspondents for their interest.

I'll never write under any name other than -

~Quintus~

(beware of imitators)
Observer   Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:53 am GMT
I'm getting the impression that this strange, rambling, dead boring, nostalgic fascination with the mundane is some kind of British disease. Damian, Robin Michael and now Quintus. What is the reason for it? Is this the British national character? I sure hope not, because it's tragic.
Quintus   Thu Apr 15, 2010 4:00 am GMT
Well, as they say in America, there's no such thing as useless information.

But the master of the mundane detail was surely the Irishman, James Joyce, in his novel "Ulysses" ?

Yet to celebrate the quotidian pleasures is hardly a diseased or tragical trait, and really, Britain does it so well.

So read 'em and weep. Or don't.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Apr 15, 2010 10:44 am GMT
Right then...let us banish all traces of anything remotely boring and mundane and confine our Antimoon chats solely to topics such as the use of the gerund, the conjugation of verbs and variations in spelling and pronunciation among speakers of the English language resident in Kirkintilloch (East Dunbartonshire, Scotland); Woking (Surrey, England); Llanfairfechan (Conwy, Wales); Hicksville (Tennessee, USA) and Wagga Wagga (South Australia) and anywhere in between in the great big ESW.

Let me start the ball rolling by discussing the continuing existence of seemingly pointless silent letters in so many words in our language....such as "debt" and "mnemonics" and that lovely Scottish bird the "ptarmigan".

Come on you lot - thrill us with your mind blowing explanation for all these apparent idiosyncracies which can do very little apart from causing confusion. Please don't bore us all by going all Greek and Double Dutch for heaven's sake or else I'll rabbit on about why some Brits prefer to pour the milk into the cup before adding the hot tea or afterwards, or the problems caused by Icelandic volcanic ash polluting our British airspace...
Quintus   Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:29 pm GMT
>>pour the milk into the cup before adding the hot tea or afterwards>>

Good Lord, no !- Scald the china first of all !
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Apr 15, 2010 3:50 pm GMT
That goes without saying....pouring tea into a china teacup (or even your favourite chipped mug emblazoned with the emblem of Partick Thistle FC) at room temperature is tantamount to holding your dining cutlery so that both knife and fork handles protrude between the thumb and forefinger instead of nestling into the palms of both hands...which is a true sign of good breeding and an adherence to unblemished etiquette. It's worse than chewing your food with your mouth open.....the horror of such a thing.....yuk!
Jasper   Thu Apr 15, 2010 5:37 pm GMT
How is the cup scalded first? We Americans drink little tea.
Damian in Edinburgh   Thu Apr 15, 2010 7:20 pm GMT
You don't know what you're missing, Jasper......tea is a panacea for all ills but it can have an adverse effect on your sense of direction.....ruining a lawn in Catford instead of in Calais.....what a blessing the guys digging the Chunnel from the British side either made sure their tea was on the weak side - it's inconceivable that they drank coffee instead - they left that to the French guys tunnelling away from the opposite direction.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq6KYdQnPHk&feature=related
Uriel   Fri Apr 16, 2010 1:06 am GMT
I have been known on occasion to actually PUT milk in tea, which leaves my coworkers mystified as to what I'm drinking and dumbfounded when I tell them what it is. Most have never heard of putting milk in tea, and certainly none of them have been moved by my example to actually try it -- they mostly look at me like hmm, there's something very odd about you and your tastes. (And remember, these are people who delight in eating tripe and fried pig skins.) But it's usually sugar and lemon and nothing else in American tea. Unless it's chai, of course -- and then the milk is suddenly okay.

Now, back to the infinite excitement of gerunds....
Jasper   Fri Apr 16, 2010 2:16 am GMT
I just realized that I have never really had tea, drank the way it's supposed to be drank.

If this experience is anything like discovering Marmite, I'm looking forward to it. (BTW, my Marmite jar is empty after less than a "fortnight".)

Damian: do you agree with this tutorial on tea-drinking?

http://snipurl.com/vindm
Quintus   Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:01 am GMT
>>How is the cup scalded first?>>

It's a simple procedure, Jasper, carried out to ensure that the tea's own beneficial heat won't be unduly absorbed into the ceramic cups and teapot ("When the cold, cold clay is around me / Won't you come and shed one bitter tear?").

Prior to making the tea, you pour plain boiling water into all the chinaware (about a third full), letting that sit for a brief minute and thus heating up the vessels. Then you pour out that water and begin making your tea in earnest, for the pot and cups are ready to receive the tea properly.

That's the scalding. Highly recommended for making coffee and other infusions as well.
Quintus   Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:11 am GMT
>>Now, back to the infinite excitement of gerunds....>>

Oh, there's plenty of language learning in reading about tea, we may rest assured. In fact, the very details of tea making and tea drinking can serve as a substantial lesson in vocabulary usage for the Antimoon learners. As the saying goes, there is no useless information, only useless people who cannot or will not absorb it.
Uriel   Fri Apr 16, 2010 4:41 am GMT
Dude, tea is most easily made by sticking a cup of water and a teabag in the microwave for 2 or 3 minutes. It doesn't need to be complicated, in my opinion. It all ends up tasting the same - like boiled leaves.