British/American asymmetries
Lynne Murphy
lynnem at COGS.SUSX.AC.UK
Mon May 29 15:33:34 UTC 2000
Allen Maberry asked:
> What would the British call what we call biscuits, as in buttermilk
> biscuits, etc.? I doubt there is an American analogue to the "digestive
> biscuit", at least I hope not.
I've never seen a buttermilk-type biscuit here. My American-British
dictionary says of US biscuit "similar to a scone."
I think the US analogue to 'digestive biscuit' is graham cracker. They
taste a lot alike to me, although the GC is sweeter.
> > torch flashlight / torch
>
> I must admit that I have never heard a flashlight called a "torch" in this
> part (PNW) of the US.
Sorry, I'm saying that a 'torch' in UK is either a flashlight or a flaming
thing, but in US we use different words for the two. Indeed, flashlights
are not called 'torches' in the US.
Lynne
Dr M Lynne Murphy
Lecturer in Linguistics
School of Cognitive and Computing Sciences
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK
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