What do you call it?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I think we all call different things by different names. For example, some people call the last meal of the day "dinner" and others call it "supper." I call a drinking glass a glass, but some call them tumblers if they are plastic. What comes to your mind when you think of things with many different names, depending on what part of the country you are from?

[barbszy]

My mom always said "supper" but we say "dinner." Don't know why.

We drink SODA out of a GLASS. If it's plastic, it's a CUP (even if it's shaped like a glass!) We put our groceries in a paper BAG.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Whether it is Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, or anything else, it is called, COKE at our house. lol I have discovered that is a Texas thing. I wonder what Nell would say?

I hear Paula dean say spatular all the time is drives me crazy. lol

[Amayesing]

I drink soft drinks or Pepsi, never Soda or Pop. I eat dinner at night but my mother eats dinner as her noon day meal. If it's plastic or has a handle it's a cup. If it's glass then it's a glass. Also, I go to the market for food. Not the grocery store or supermarket.

Doris

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I was raised eating dinner in the middle of the day and a light supper at night when we went to my grandparents' house. However, we now eat dinner at night. My DH recently started saying supper. I told him that if he wanted "supper" I could do that, but he would get hungry by morning. lol

[sweetnell3]

Yes DeBora we called them all coke here. I was raised with dinner the noon meal and the late meal supper. My dh always call the noon meal lunch and the evening meal dinner.

[ajrsmom]

When we first moved to NC, my neighbors used to laugh at me when I would say that I was cooking dinner--they say supper here.

We say glass for glass or plastic tumbler. Cup for coffee cup

We also use paper bags, not sacks for groceries and shop at a grocery store.

I say pop (Pa. thing), my husband says soda (Upstate NY things--neighbor to Barbszy ;)) and my kids use both words--depending on who they are with most of the time.

Not a food subject but I call the vacuum cleaner a sweeper (which drives my DH bonkers) and he says vacuum.

We say shopping cart, not buggy

We say shut off or turn off the light, not cut off the light :rolleyes: (the latter drives me bonkers. lol!)


Fun subject, DeBora!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

My fil and I have had the discussion over the dinner/supper word. He is from Louisiana. However, don't Southerners usually have the main meal at noonish so that supper truly is a light meal? That is what both my grandparents did.

[megray]

Australia also has different uses for words depending where you are from. This is what my family has:
breakfast (brekky) ~ eaten as the first meal of the day. Often not substantial enough for me and the kids, but dh always has 2 or 3 pieces of toast and a cup of tea, served in a mug!
Lunch ~ the meal in the middle of the day
Tea ~ the meal at the end of the day. Usually cooked, sometimes salad. On weekends it is anyone's guess - pancakes, soup, toasted cheese, whatever is quick, easy and in the house!


I have a question? How would you describe entree? To me it is what you would get at a restaurant before the main meal eg soup or entree (maybe oysters, mini spring roll, bruschetta)

I will post some more things later, oh yeah, we drink from a glass. A tea cup is a cup, a larger one is a mug (but sometimes we call then cups too!!)

[megray]

http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00vRDtrMzcsQBeM/Shopping-Trolley-JT-125A-.jpg
Hopefully, this shows you what we call a trolley when we go to the supermarket to buy our groceries.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Meg, I have never heard of one of those being called a trolley. I have heard baskets and carts. I learn something new every day.

As for the entrees, it can be the dish served just prior to the main dish, but I consider a main dish n entree. I think it depends on how fancy the meal it.

[barbszy]

I always thought that the entree is the main dish. For example, in a meal where you are served:

Stuffed Clams
Soup
Salad
Chicken Piccata
Mashed Potatoes
Mixed Green Vegetables
Chocolate Cake

The entree would be the chicken.

Meg, what you call a trolley, we here in NJ call a "shopping cart."

[megray]

:rolleyes: I thought we spoke the same language:confused:

We drink soft drink, or else use the name: lemonade, coke, fanta, pepsi etc. They are all carbonated (or prickly as my kids used to say!!)

[pag36]

LOL for me it is a glass whether glass or plastic, it is a shopping cart, grocery store or the actual name of it, Food Lion or Wal-Mart etc, either dinner or supper as far as last meal. Mid day meal is lunch I use to refer to all soda's as coke regardless of which I had, same with tissues ( to blow nose with) they were all Kleenex,
Guess that is eough for now

[megray]

Yep, we use Kleenex as well regardless of the actual brand or say tissue. If it's made of cloth and can be washed then we say hanky.
What about things made with potato?
If it is sliced in long strips and fried, then we say chips or hot chips. If it is a snack that you buy in a bag we say chips, potato chips or some say crisps.
If you boil a potato, then squish it all up with a bit of milk and butter, we call that mashed potato (although I have noticed at restaurants it is now called mash!) Then again, why serve this in a restaurant???

[Bilby]

Yep a shopping trolley and coke is coke, pepsi is pepsi and all other flavours are thier flavour names or in general terms they are soft drinks.
We have dinner at night, breakfast, lunch and dinner, supper is a light snack after dinner and before bed if needed.
Tissues are tissues to us, chips are in a bag and cold hot chips are surprisingly hot.
Meg in restaurants here they have smashed potatoes, not mashed just kinda squished with a sauce or herbs over them.
A glass is a glass and a cup is plastic or ceramic.
Loo is a toilet
Chook is a chicken
Rockmelon/cantaloupe
Mince/ground meat
Entree is the meal starter and before the main dish followed by dessert or cheese and wine
Capsicum/bell pepper ... I think
Cot/a crib
Pram (for little babies) / stroller (I think)
Couch /sofa
Whipper snipper/weed wacker
Boot/trunk (car)
All my groceries go in green bags, can be used many times or we are charged for plastic bags.

Meg
am I correct when I say if I asked for a scallop in Vic I'd get a potato cake not a sea scallop or am I thinking of another state?

[barbszy]

Meg, what you call "chips" we call "French fries" or just "fries." Your "crisps" are our "potato chips."

"Mashed potatoes" are the same....

[megray]

Bilby, I think that is SA. Here a potato cake is just that and scallops are seafood.
Off topic slightly, we swim in bathers and sleep in PJ's or jamies (pronounced jar-mees) or a nightie (dress like thing).
Barbszy, McDonalds have fries and some places do call chips, fries. In Victoria, we also call them chips or crisps.

[sweetnell3]

Strips of potatoes fried are call french fries or just fries.We also use kleenex,we also use toliet tissue in the bathroom.

[happy2bg33k]

We drink soda as opposed to pop. I call everything a glass unless it's a mug. We eat lunch midday and supper in the evening unless it's a little fancier than usual and then we call it dinner. (I have no idea why!) I shop at the supermarket instead of the grocery store. This is a very interesting thread.:D

[orangefield]

Megray being Australian, it's closer to English than American. Being English with lots of American friends here in Italy, there are a TON of differences in our language... I say you need a translator sometimes!

We have HOOVERS instead of vacuums, we put our shopping (even groceries are shopping) in the BOOT of the car (elephants have trunks, not cars), we use CUTLERY instead of silverware, we wear TIGHTS instead of pantyhose, and our HANDBAGS actually contain a PURSE, which is where we keep our money (but men keep theirs in a WALLET). We drink coke if it's coke, pepsi if it's pepsi, the rest are fizzy drinks. It took me a long time to figure out what soda and pop were. They're always in a glass, whatever it's made of.
Our crockpot is a SLOW COOKER, we boil water in a KETTLE, and drink tea and coffe out of cups (smaller, with handle) or mugs (larger, with handle).
I could go on and on!

It's actually quite interesting to list them all, there are thousands of words that are different in the same language. Guess they really did a good job at Babel :)

Fabrizia

[katharina]

I hear Paula dean say spatular all the time is drives me crazy. lol

:) I hear that, too... but even worse than that to my ears is when the poor dear tries to say "oil" or "foil".... it sounds like it turns into about three syllables! :)

As for calling things by different names, one big one I've noticed is "hoagie".... some call it sub, submarine, and a few other names. For me it's supper, glass, soft drink, and hoagie.

[vicki2]

I'm a Southerner married to a Brit and we live in the Northeast U.S. so you can imagine how mucked up our word usage gets. I grew up eating dinner at noon, and supper at night. Now we eat dinner but have tea around midafternoon because he gets 'peckish'. LOL.

[Bilby]

I'm a Southerner married to a Brit and we live in the Northeast U.S. so you can imagine how mucked up our word usage gets. I grew up eating dinner at noon, and supper at night. Now we eat dinner but have tea around midafternoon because he gets 'peckish'. LOL.
LOL as we come from convict stock we have a lot of pommy traditions here and morning 10.30ish and afternoon tea 3pmish is one of them, you've gotta stop that peckishness and have a snack!
We have dinner at night, though dh grandparents from England always had dinner at lunch. You'll have to tell us more

[barbszy]

Bilby, you lost me at "pommy." What does that word mean???

It's "hoagie" here in South Jersey but "sub" or "hero" where I grew up in northern New Jersey.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

I hear that, too... but even worse than that to my ears is when the poor dear tries to say "oil" or "foil".... it sounds like it turns into about three syllables!

Well, I am a native Texan so those are 2 syllable words to me. lol

I'm a Southerner married to a Brit and we live in the Northeast U.S. so you can imagine how mucked up our word usage gets.

I can imagine. lol

[Bilby]

A Pom is a nick name for an English person, a Kiwi is a New Zealander, a Yank is an American. I have no idea what other countries call us, maybe you can enlighten me LOL, and does calling Americans yanks, annoy anyone?

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Those of us who are in the Southern states like Texas, Virginia, North Carolina, and so on that call people in the northern states D&^% Yankees. I don't know what they call us besides Confederates or maybe something that can't be repeated. lol (I am a Native Texan.)

I don't think I have ever heard anyone call someone from Australia anything other than an "Aussie." There may be others, but I haven't heard them.

[vicki2]

I'm a Southerner, but got used to be called a Yank in the UK ...it's kind of funny really. I'm always amused in the UK when a wife is referred to as "Her Indoors". Makes me laugh every time!

[katharina]

A Pom is a nick name for an English person, a Kiwi is a New Zealander, a Yank is an American. I have no idea what other countries call us, maybe you can enlighten me LOL, and does calling Americans yanks, annoy anyone?

:) I'm from a northern state, so it doesn't bother me at all. I'm not sure how the southerners would feel about that. :) Someone mentioned being called "Confederate" from the south... yes, that's the main one I've heard, and some people use "Reb" but I'm not sure how they feel about that. I think it's mostly used in a teasing and fun (respectful) way now.

[mamab]

I guess being called a "Yank" is better than being called a "damned Yankee" like I've been called a time or two since moving from Illinois to Alabama. Some people just can't let the past go. ;) With people moving all over the world, I don't imagine that there are that many people left that haven't moved at least once!

[Bilby]

In my ignorance I could not even tell you where in the US a Yank comes from I don't know where all the states are even. I know there was a north south war but I honestly don't know who came from where. I hope no on is offended, I'm not meaning to, and it's not said in a bad way, just general terms, I have many US friends.

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Kathy, my Nana passed away a little over a year ago and I remember her telling me stories about her grand-father, my great-grand-father, who fought in the Civil War. My family was living in Tennessee at the time and settled in Texas after that. So, I heard all about those dang Yankees. lol People who live in the original states that fought for the North in the Civil War are Yankees. I hope that helps to explain who the Yankees are. I guess we people who grew up in the South are slow. lol

[ej2mom]

In wisconsin we say shopping cart...not buggy
bags...not sacks
soda...not pop
bubbler...not drinking fountain

In our house we use glass...not cup
cup...not mug
couch...not sofa or davenport

[mamab]

I guess I'd fit right in at almost any home in Wisconsin, then. LOL The only thing I don't say is "bubbler" :)

[katharina]

In wisconsin we say shopping cart...not buggy
bags...not sacks
soda...not pop
bubbler...not drinking fountain

In our house we use glass...not cup
cup...not mug
couch...not sofa or davenport

Hmmm... interesting! I'm from the northeast and I share most of these with you. I haven't heard of bubbler, though. Everything else is the same except I personally call it soft drink... most others around here call it soda.