Home/Language
  1. Asked: 19 April 2018In:

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

    James Wane
    James Wane

    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. Asked: 19 April 2018In:

    How do native speakers tell I’m foreign based on my English alone?

    John Peter
    John Peter

    It may be little things like not using native idioms, that you would pick up from living in the UK. But, hey. That’s just a guess. Also, I don’t think I would’ve noticed you were foreign from what you wrote, if you didn’t point it out.

    It may be little things like not using native idioms, that you would pick up from living in the UK.

    But, hey. That’s just a guess.

    Also, I don’t think I would’ve noticed you were foreign from what you wrote, if you didn’t point it out.

    See less
  3. Asked: 19 April 2018In:

    Is this statement, “i see him last night” can be understood as “I saw him last night”?

    John Peter
    John Peter

    Yes, I understand it. I hear a lot of this incorrect grammar from my wife. I would expect that the person that spoke this was possibly Chinese. In Chinese there are no tenses or plurals. No he or she pronouns. The context tells all. So it might have been a direct translation from Chinese.

    Yes, I understand it. I hear a lot of this incorrect grammar from my wife. I would expect that the person that spoke this was possibly Chinese. In Chinese there are no tenses or plurals. No he or she pronouns. The context tells all. So it might have been a direct translation from Chinese.

    See less
  4. Asked: 19 April 2018In:

    Is there an English equivalent to the French expression: “il faut d’abord apprendre à marcher avant de courir”?

    Barry Carter
    Barry Carter

    While we do say this literally sometimes in English, we have a more common idiom that many people would probably think of first, if they weren’t translating. You have to crawl before you can walk. At least in American English, this idiom is very popular.

    While we do say this literally sometimes in English, we have a more common idiom that many people would probably think of first, if they weren’t translating.

    You have to crawl before you can walk.

    At least in American English, this idiom is very popular.

    See less