# Do they have \_\_\_ in England? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 17, 2012, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978 "2012-09-17T15:31:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/81 "2012-09-20T18:47:41Z")
Biscuits - yes Gravy - yes Biscuits and Gravy - 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/82 "2012-09-20T18:50:09Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Biscuits - yes > > Gravy - yes > > Biscuits and Gravy - 😕 I’m on your side there - I don’t do wet bread. Husband loves it, he can have my portion as well. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2012, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/83 "2012-09-20T18:50:55Z")
> [@Abortion\_Fanatic](#): > > The passing/standing part is not uniquely British, no. The cold fury directed at people who don’t or won’t follow the rules seems to be. You’ve obviously never been to DC. ---
**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:** [September 20, 2012, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/84 "2012-09-20T19:21:50Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > You’ve obviously never been to DC. Or New York. Note that those are the two places in the United States with the most heavily used subway systems. In other parts of the country, escalators aren’t really found in crowded public transit areas, so people aren’t really in a hurry. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/85 "2012-09-21T00:08:11Z")
> [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](#): > > Biscuits - yes > > Gravy - yes > > Biscuits and Gravy - 😕 I can’t imagine cookies and gravy being that good, either. 🙂 But do you mean that the UK has American style biscuits now? I may actually visit someday, then. 🆒 And, thanks, guys, for explaining why I’ve never seen the escalator thing everyone mentions. Around here, escalators are used more like elevators, since they are in malls and similar, and only brash kids run up the elevators (often going the wrong way). ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/86 "2012-09-21T00:14:27Z")
They didn’t in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/87 "2012-09-21T04:34:11Z")
FWIW, I grew up in the East Anglia area - dad was stationed at Lakenheath, we lived at Feltwell, as well as on the economy in Brandon and Hopton (Norfolk). I also started school at Lakenheath. It was yonks ago but I love the region, nothing but wonderful memories (except for stinging nettles). Dad was also stationed at Upper Heyford, in Oxon, which is closed now. Croughton (where we lived) is still open, though. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/88 "2012-09-21T08:27:32Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > They didn’t in 1995. Or in 05 - KFC was serving corn and french fries as sides. Not cool. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/89 "2012-09-21T11:15:16Z")
If you’re expecting to eat exactly the same things in the U.K. as you do in the U.S., you’re missing the point of getting a foreign tour. If you’re going to try not to experience new things while you’re there, don’t bother with going to the U.K. at all. There are military people at the American bases in the U.K. who seemed to go out of their way to not experience anything new. They spent all their time on the base, bought everything at the stores on the base, and only hung out with other American military people. That’s wasting a tour, as far as I’m concerned. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/90 "2012-09-21T11:43:28Z")
To be fair there is SOME extreme couponing, although I’ve never actually SEEN it - a good forum for that sort of thing is moneysavingexpert. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/91 "2012-09-21T11:45:16Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Or in 05 - KFC was serving corn and french fries as sides. Not cool. You can get gravy as a side at KFC here. I would imagine the reason they don’t do biscuits and gravy is no one would buy such a thing. Does biscuit mean something different to an American that it does to me? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/92 "2012-09-21T11:47:32Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > You can get gravy as a side at KFC here. > > I would imagine the reason they don’t do biscuits and gravy is no one would buy such a thing. Does biscuit mean something different to an American that it does to me? Yes. A biscuit is a soft, savory bread product with shortening (or butter) that’s leavened by baking powder. It can be lightly sweetened and used for desserts like shortcake, but generally it’s not. It’s fluffier than a dense scone, but I had scones in Bermuda that were closer to biscuits. We call your biscuits cookies. > **[Biscuits Recipe & Video - Joyofbaking.com \*Video Recipe\*](https://m.joyofbaking.com/scones/Biscuits.html)** > > Homemade Biscuits have a golden brown crust and are wonderfully soft and flaky. With Demo Video ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/93 "2012-09-21T12:32:47Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > If you’re expecting to eat exactly the same things in the U.K. as you do in the U.S., you’re missing the point of getting a foreign tour. If you’re going to try not to experience new things while you’re there, don’t bother with going to the U.K. at all. There are military people at the American bases in the U.K. who seemed to go out of their way to not experience anything new. They spent all their time on the base, bought everything at the stores on the base, and only hung out with other American military people. That’s wasting a tour, as far as I’m concerned. I’m glad to say we aren’t those people. We intend to shop on base for some things to save money and live on base at first b/c right outside the base(s) is a higher crime area as one often finds right outside US military bases; as you may recall American military persons aren’t as free to heartily defend themselves in their home as they are in the States. Once we get the lay of the land we’ll move onto the economy. We intend to make the most of this station, that’s why I want to blend in and be active in the area and mentioned the things we’re looking forward to. (Unless you were referring to the ubiquitous ‘you’ here?) > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Yes. A biscuit is a soft, savory bread product with shortening (or butter) that’s leavened by baking powder. It can be lightly sweetened and used for desserts like shortcake, but generally it’s not. It’s fluffier than a dense scone, but I had scones in Bermuda that were closer to biscuits. > > We call your biscuits cookies. > > [Biscuits - Joyofbaking.com](http://m.joyofbaking.com/scones/Biscuits.html) Shouldn’t we call them bakies? You don’t cook them. 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/94 "2012-09-21T13:01:02Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > We intend to shop on base for some things to save money and live on base at first b/c right outside the base(s) is a higher crime area as one often finds right outside US military bases Can you say what the base you mean is? The two biggest are Lakenheath and Mildenhall, and I’m not sure that a higher crime area in rural Suffolk is going to be all that dangerous. ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/95 "2012-09-21T13:09:23Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > Or in 05 - KFC was serving corn and french fries as sides. Not cool. Yeah, KFC took biscuits off their UK menu some time in the 70s, I think; around the same time McDonald’s stopped trying to sell us root beer. > [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Shouldn’t we call them bakies? You don’t cook them. 😕 Baking is a method of cooking. You can cook something without baking it, but you can’t bake something without cooking it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/96 "2012-09-21T13:19:57Z")
> [@Nawth\_Chucka](#): > > Shouldn’t we call them bakies? You don’t cook them. 😕 It’s from the Dutch _koekje_, “little cake”. ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/97 "2012-09-21T13:57:25Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > Can you say what the base you mean is? The two biggest are Lakenheath and Mildenhall, and I’m not sure that a higher crime area in rural Suffolk is going to be all that dangerous. I’m referring to Lakenheath and Mildenhall; if I linked here all the stories I’ve seen from the various English papers and the base’s own media you’d have a busy day of clicking. Petty larceny is a big one, B & E (especially around Christmas) as is vandalism and assault. An Air Force Sgt was sitting in his home in Lord’s Walk, I think, and heard commotion outside. He went out, saw 3 youths smashing up his vehicle and house w/ bricks, yelled at them to stop and they set on him as well. After they ran away he called the constables who said they were too busy and would get back w/ him the next day. His Airman wife took him to the Med Group urgent clinic where he wound up w/ several stitches; though they apologized when they came by for his statement the next day the constabulary couldn’t explain why they’d been so busy they couldn’t come to his aid. I’ve lost track of the mentions of vehicles and garages being vandalised and broken into in the area of both Lakenheath and Mildenhall. We’re having one of the outside mirrors from my vehicle removed before we take it over as it’s warned they’re commonly smashed off anyway when you’re parked out on the economy. An area frequently mentioned in Mildhenhall is Claire, St. Johns and College Heath roads. It appears there’s also a semi-permanent Traveler population, though they may just be a convenient scapegoat. Lord’s Walk is so bad that until this past August 20th the PTB forced people to live there in order to be stationed at Lakenheath. It’s particularly problematic as it’s on a road that used to run through base but was blocked off and then walled around after 9/11. This added to the local police’s burden and left Lord’s Walk outside the protection of base security forces though Air Force personnel must still live there under the long-term lease agreement the USAF signed w/ the British government who owns the property itself. There’s talk of securing a fence around it. :rolleyes: We’ve been advised that Flempton and Ely are safe places to live but haven’t looked into them yet. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/98 "2012-09-21T14:00:36Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > …and only brash kids run up the elevators (often going the wrong way). Running up an elevator the wrong way would require a certain amount of attitude, to be sure. ;)😛 ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/99 "2012-09-21T14:45:55Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > You can get gravy as a side at KFC here. > > I would imagine the reason they don’t do biscuits and gravy is no one would buy such a thing. Does biscuit mean something different to an American that it does to me? And the gravy in question is a bechemel sauce that’s flavored with breakfast sausage. (breakfast sausage in the US, is pork sausage invariably flavored with sage, I don’t know if you have that sort, when I’ve been in England I’ve gotten a different type of sausage at breakfast). bread+breakfast sausage+a bit of sauce, I think you’ll agree, is not such an insane thing to eat. We had an enormous thread on the subject recently. The British instinctive revulsion (presumably picturing chocolate cookies covered in beef gravy, yuck) is just a case of “two nations separated by a common language.” ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2012, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978/100 "2012-09-21T15:04:24Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > And the gravy in question is a bechemel sauce that’s flavored with breakfast sausage. (breakfast sausage in the US, is pork sausage invariably flavored with sage, I don’t know if you have that sort, when I’ve been in England I’ve gotten a different type of sausage at breakfast). > > bread+breakfast sausage+a bit of sauce, I think you’ll agree, is not such an insane thing to eat. We had an enormous thread on the subject recently. The British instinctive revulsion (presumably picturing chocolate cookies covered in beef gravy, yuck) is just a case of “two nations separated by a common language.” Another source of confusion is that we wouldn’t tend to call a white sauce “gravy”, generally restricting that to brown sauces. Also, though I’m sure it is just as tasty as people claim, it does seem to be impossible to photograph without it looking like it’s already been eaten once, before being reintroduced to the plate. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-they-have-___-in-england/634978.md?page=6)