# 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:** 16\ **Page:** 9
**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, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/161 "2005-05-18T23:01:16Z")
> [@OxyMoron](#): > > Sadly, the book doesn’t really cover American biscuits, other than the beaten biscuits which, it rightly notes, are a Southern speciality and not one I’ve seen very often. The probable reason is that a key step is beating the dough for at least a half-hour or so until it blisters. I recall a late-sixties Time-Life series on American regional cooking, which included a photograph of the Maryland First Lady beating her biscuit dough with an ordinary hammer. I grew up in Maryland and had never heard of this. I looked it up on Google. It seems this is one way that biscuits were leavened before the invention of baking powder: [Link](http://www.chefrick.com/html/beatenbiscuits.html) You learn something new every day… ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/162 "2005-05-18T23:10:34Z")
They still make them this way, albeit it with a handle of an axe, and you can order them online. [http://www.beatenbiscuits.com/](http://www.beatenbiscuits.com/) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/163 "2005-05-18T23:15:35Z")
> [@Anne Neville](#): > > I had pizza in the UK, at a place in Manchester when I went there in 2000… > > But it was not all that different from pizzas I’ve had in the US, and certainly not something I’d call anything other than pizza. You’re correct - while most pizzas here are dreadful, they still don’t deviate from the basic premise of ‘dough with tomato & cheese & stuff’. > [@](#): > > Also on that trip, I got a Starbucks barista in London to give me a really strange look. I was trying to get a coffee drink made with skim milk. This is common here, but he looked at me like he’d never heard of such foolishness. Is it really so uncommon to order coffee drinks with skim milk there? Skimmed milk, while fully available, certainly isn’t common (although I was brought up on it, and since rebelled 😛 ). And I’ve never seen or heard anyone specifically request it in a cafe. So it was probably simply that you were the first person to request it from that barista. ---
**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, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/164 "2005-05-18T23:29:52Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > They still make them this way, albeit it with a handle of an axe Cool! But those of us who make biscuits at home don’t do it that way. We use baking powder for leavening. ---
**Author:** ![dwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwyr/32/363_2.png) [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/165 "2005-05-18T23:38:55Z")
> [@Scott Plaid](#): > > They still make them this way, albeit it with a handle of an axe, and you can order them online. > > [http://www.beatenbiscuits.com/](http://www.beatenbiscuits.com/) Nah, most commercially-produced ones are machine-beaten these days. I find them kind of bland, not bad with some salty country ham though. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/166 "2005-05-18T23:40:38Z")
Speaking of baking powder, when several of the UK posters described dumplings it sounded like they were made with flour and fat, but no leavening. Many common US traditional dumpling recipes (e.g., chicken and dumplings) use something akin to drop biscuit dough, which are put on top of the simmering stew and essentially steamed until they are done inside. This give the dumplings more of a bready than a noodly texture. And before anyone asks, drop biscuit are made with essentially the same ingredients as other US biscuits, but the dough is a bit wetter and is just dropped from a spoon onto the baking sheet. [They look like this.](http://www.hungryjack.com/images/recipes/shots/10317.jpg) ---
**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 19, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/167 "2005-05-19T00:03:05Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Speaking of baking powder, when several of the UK posters described dumplings it sounded like they were made with flour and fat, but no leavening. Many common US traditional dumpling recipes (e.g., chicken and dumplings) use something akin to drop biscuit dough, which are put on top of the simmering stew and essentially steamed until they are done inside. This give the dumplings more of a bready than a noodly texture. Yeah, the dumplings I make for chicken and dumplings contain no fat, but do contain baking powder. They don’t contain milk either, but that’s because I keep kosher- a traditional recipe probably would. They don’t really stay on top of the stew, though- they sink down in it and are cooked there. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/168 "2005-05-19T01:55:47Z")
> [@Jeff Lichtman](#): > > Do you mean that “lolly” is a generic term for many types of sweets, the way “candy” is in the U.S.? Yes. ---
**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 19, 2005, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/169 "2005-05-19T06:13:59Z")
> [@buns3000](#): > > Yes. If you are talking about the UK I disagree. A lolly just means a lollipop. The generic name for what you call candy is\* sweets\* . Thus you get sweet shops that sell all types of sugar confectionery (and chocolate) and even _sweet jars_ were you will see them displayed in the shop. ---
**Author:** ![buns3000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c89c15/32.png) [@buns3000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buns3000)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/170 "2005-05-19T06:51:37Z")
> [@Rayne Man](#): > > If you are talking about the UK I disagree. A lolly just means a lollipop. The generic name for what you call candy is\* sweets\* . Thus you get sweet shops that sell all types of sugar confectionery (and chocolate) and even _sweet jars_ were you will see them displayed in the shop. Sorry, I should’ve said I just meant Australia. “Sweets” down under is more likely to be a reference to dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/171 "2005-05-19T09:04:23Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Speaking of baking powder, when several of the UK posters described dumplings it sounded like they were made with flour and fat, but no leavening. Both kinds exist - ‘floaters’ and ‘sinkers’ - depending on whether or not they are leavened. The leavened kind are by far the most common though and are probably what almost everybody thinks they’d be getting if they ask for dumplings. > [@](#): > > And before anyone asks, drop biscuit are made with essentially the same ingredients as other US biscuits, but the dough is a bit wetter and is just dropped from a spoon onto the baking sheet. Sounds a bit like drop (or girdle)scones. ---
**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 19, 2005, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/172 "2005-05-19T14:13:38Z")
> [@Beware of Doug](#): > > Unless they’re from [Michigan](http://www.umich.edu/~newsinfo/MT/96/Fall96/mta13f96.html), that is. See post No. 68. ---
**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 19, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/173 "2005-05-19T14:16:15Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Skimmed milk, while fully available, certainly isn’t common (although I was brought up on it, and since rebelled 😛 ). And I’ve never seen or heard anyone specifically request it in a cafe. So it was probably simply that you were the first person to request it from that barista. While there is a good proportion of Americans who despise skim milk (these are the types that also avoid 1 and 2 percent milk and stick to whole milk), I would guess that probably 80 to 90 percent of the people I interact with personally exclusively use skim milk (hmm … I wonder about the provenance of “skimmed milk” in the United States) if they drink any milk at all. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/174 "2005-05-19T16:37:33Z")
> [@](#): > > While we’re at it, let’s argue about whether the side dish that’s cooked inside a turkey is called “dressing” or “stuffing,” In my experience, dressing is not cooked inside the turkey, but rather in a pan. The drippings from the turkey are used to give it flavor. I consider stuffing to be a separate entity- much wetter and fluffier. This sort of thing varies a lot within the US, even within specific regions. At least, different parts of the south do things differently. **acsenray** , look at the 2004 US sales figures for milk: [link (PDF)](http://www.ams.usda.gov/dyfmos/mib/inareasls_ytd04.pdf). Skim represents less than 15% of all milk sold. ---
**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 19, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/175 "2005-05-19T17:06:19Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > **acsenray** , look at the 2004 US sales figures for milk: [link (PDF)](http://www.ams.usda.gov/dyfmos/mib/inareasls_ytd04.pdf). Skim represents less than 15% of all milk sold. I don’t think that this contradicts anything I said in my post. ---
**Author:** ![awldune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c77e96/32.png) [@awldune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/awldune)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2005, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099/176 "2005-05-19T17:17:56Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > I don’t think that this contradicts anything I said in my post. I guess I was hung up on the 80-90% thing. The skim users I know all use soy now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/brit-speak-if-chips-fries-then-chips/304099.md?page=8)