# Brit-speak: if Chips==Fries, then ??==Chips **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 16, 2005, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099 "2005-05-16T17:53:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/121 "2005-05-18T14:30:40Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Like hell it is. I’ve never heard anybody refer to a **lollipop** as a “sucker” anywhere in the U.S. That’s reserved for the way Elmer Fudd feels when he suddenly finds himself treading air 500 feet above a ravine in 1940s Bugs Bunny cartoons. I heard it a lot where I grew up. Of course, we also drank “pop.” And walked “acrosst” the street. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/122 "2005-05-18T14:33:33Z")
They may call them “suckers” in some places, but I still say “‘suckers’ is the most common American name” isn’t a true statement. Lollipops they is to most in the US. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/123 "2005-05-18T14:42:40Z")
“Suckers” they are, out here at least. Seems like “lollipop” is a effete, East Coast designation. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mittu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecd19e/32.png) [@mittu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mittu)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/124 "2005-05-18T15:02:44Z")
Ingredients of HP Sauce: > [@](#): > > Vinegar, Tomatoes, Molasses, Malt Vinegar, Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Dates, Sugar, Salt, Modified Corn Starch, Rye Flour, Tamarind Extract, Spices, Onion Extract As you can imagine it has a very strong flavour, which is why I don’t like to put it on my bacon sandwiches. The intense flavour of the sauce overpowers the bacon, I love HP or Daddies on other foods however. If you want to take a look at some British foodstuffs that might not be readily available in America you can find a selection at [www.ukgoods.com](http://www.ukgoods.com) . ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/125 "2005-05-18T15:07:16Z")
I think it’s the tamarind extract that gives HP its distinct and powerful flavor. Good stuff! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/126 "2005-05-18T15:17:54Z")
I’ve perused the Internet, and the few sites I find seem to imply that “sucker” is a Southernism, while “lollipop” is a Northernism (except for one site that claims “sucker” is used in Buffalo – that’s contrary to my experience – and **silenus** ’claim that “sucker” is a California expression). All I know is that every place I’ve lived and all the places I’ve visited, I don’t recall “sucker” being used as the normal term. And I never hear them called “suckers” in the movies or on TV, outside of the aforementioned Bugs Bunny references. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/127 "2005-05-18T15:37:07Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve perused the Internet, and the few sites I find seem to imply that “sucker” is a Southernism, while “lollipop” is a Northernism (except for one site that claims “sucker” is used in Buffalo – that’s contrary to my experience – and **silenus** ’claim that “sucker” is a California expression). > All I know is that every place I’ve lived and all the places I’ve visited, I don’t recall “sucker” being used as the normal term. And I never hear them called “suckers” in the movies or on TV, outside of the aforementioned Bugs Bunny references. My experience of “sucker” as the common term is in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, and Indiana. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/128 "2005-05-18T15:42:34Z")
From **ascenray** : > [@](#): > > My experience of “sucker” as the common term is in **Pennsylvania** , Ohio, Michigan, West Virginia, and Indiana. This guy’s experience is different. Mine, too: [http://members.boardhost.com/nbn-blue/msg/4031.html](http://members.boardhost.com/nbn-blue/msg/4031.html) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/129 "2005-05-18T15:51:56Z")
Impromptu quiz of my 1st and 2nd period classes: Sucker: 59 Lollipop: 4. Of those 4, 3 of them have parents from back East. So they are suckers in Southern California! (Let the jokes begin!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/130 "2005-05-18T15:56:37Z")
Aaack! I just checked my cite, and it says the _opposite_ of what I said! Hey, **silenus** – since Southern California culture colors the way things are depicted in the movies and TV, howcum I always hear “lollipop” instead of “sucker”? ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/131 "2005-05-18T16:00:32Z")
As an Army brat and later a soldier myself, I’ve been exposed to a pretty broad spectrum of American culture. Sucker is definitely the term I’ve heard more often, regardless of where in the US I was. Of course, silenus may be right that lollipop is an effete term; you don’t hear that kind of language much on an Amry post. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/132 "2005-05-18T16:11:47Z")
> [@Miss Mapp](#): > > To my mind, biscuits and scones are pretty much the same thing by recipe (flour, a pinch of salt, little sugar, some baking powder, milk vs. table cream, stir, shape into little dabs on the cookie tray and bake). Biscuits, however, are normally round-shaped and a little more fluffy, and are to be used as a conveyance for chicken-and-gravy or roast beef with gravy. Scones are usually triangularly or wedge-shaped and more dense, are used to convey jam and Devon cream, and are accompanied by tea. The original biscuit was what the Italians still call biscotti. A biscuit dough baked into a large flat disk, round or oblong, then cut into thin wedges which are then baked again. Hence the name biscuit which means twice baked. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/133 "2005-05-18T16:17:25Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Hey, **silenus** – since Southern California culture colors the way things are depicted in the movies and TV, howcum I always hear “lollipop” instead of “sucker”? Probably because the film-makers are effete Easterners! 😃 Or more likely, your ear picks up and remembers terms you expect and are familiar with. I know mine do. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/134 "2005-05-18T16:27:19Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > The original biscuit was what the Italians still call biscotti. A biscuit dough baked into a large flat disk, round or oblong, then cut into thin wedges which are then baked again. Hence the name biscuit which means twice baked. :smack: As to why they were baked twice? So you could carry them without breaking. :smack: Pilgrims and travelers would carry them to eat along the way. They were the hardtack of their day. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/135 "2005-05-18T17:42:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > They may call them “suckers” in some places, but I still say “‘suckers’ is the most common American name” isn’t a true statement. Lollipops they is to most in the US. This, from the land of “tonic” (pronounced: taw-nic). 🙂 Hey, I’m from there, too, but I’ve been around the country and “sucker” is not that uncommon. My favorite, though, is Rhode Island-ese for milkshake: cabinet. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/136 "2005-05-18T17:47:25Z")
> [@ouryL](#): > > The original biscuit was what the Italians still call biscotti. They might call biscuit **s** _biscotti_, but not a biscuit. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![chaoticbear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@chaoticbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chaoticbear)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/137 "2005-05-18T18:26:58Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There’s definitely a difference between apple juice and sweet cider in the US, but nobody seems to agree on what that difference is. Generally, if you buy it at a roadside fruit stand out in the country that grows their own apples, it’s cider, while the big-brand juice box stuff is apple juice. In any event, if it’s fermented, it’s hard cider, and if it’s fermented and then further distilled (most often by freezing), it’s apple jack. Well, Flanders cleared this up: > [@Ned Flanders](#): > > You know, most people don’t know the difference > between apple cider and apple juice, but I do. Now here’s a > little trick to help you remember. If it’s clear and yella’, > you’ve got juice there, fella! If it’s tangy and brown, you’re > in cider town. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/138 "2005-05-18T19:13:34Z")
American biscuit recipe for any curious Brits: (This is my slightly modified version of a recipe from **Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites** ) 1 1/2 cups white all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking powder 2 tablespoons canola or other vegetable oil 5 tablespoons buttermilk (you can also use regular milk with a little vinegar in it, or just regular milk if you prefer) Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit. Cover a cookie sheet with aluminium foil (this just makes getting the biscuits off the sheet easier, as well as simplifying cleanup) Mix the dry ingredients together. Mix the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients. You can mix the wet ingredients first in a separate bowl if you want to, but I never do this and the biscuits turn out fine for me. Mix together until the resulting batter is homogeneous. Some people roll out the dough at this point, and use circular biscuit cutters to make round biscuits. I just take a largish spoon, get a good-sized lump of dough on it, and drop it onto the foiled cookie sheet. The end result is less aesthetically pleasing, but a lot easier to make. You should end up with somewhere between 4 and 8 biscuits. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until puffed and golden. If you want metric equivalents: 1 cup = 8 ounces = 225 milliliters 1 teaspoon = 5 milliliters 1 tablespoon = 14 milliliters 350 F = Gas 4 = 180 C I can’t give you equivalents for ingredients by weight- not many Americans measure ingredients out by weight. The only ones I have ever heard of doing that are show hosts on Food Network. Do people in other parts of the world usually measure ingredients by weight? ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/139 "2005-05-18T19:18:47Z")
Apart from the US I think that most other countries measure their dry ingredients by weight. Most British Kitchens have at least one pair of scales. BTW, if a recipe asks for something like “2 pounds of potatoes” how do you measure these out if you don;t have kitchen scales? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/140 "2005-05-18T19:21:17Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > BTW, if a recipe asks for something like “2 pounds of potatoes” how do you measure these out if you don;t have kitchen scales? I just guesstimate it. If I have a 10 lb. bag of potatoes, then 1/5 of them will be +/- 2 lbs. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099.md?page=8)