# Does the term "full English" get used outside UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 11, 2019, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821 "2019-05-11T10:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/61 "2019-05-13T03:03:49Z")
From reading Pomaine and other famous French food writers, I would say that an omelette is a French luncheon dish. It’s certainly too spare for a proper dinner. Maybe a post-theater or post-coital supper. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/62 "2019-05-13T06:06:43Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yep, that’s it. The woman in _ **YAWYE** _ used a spatula to press down on the egg and keep it immersed in the oil. My God, please don’t tell me those things just after breakfast, I might throw up. That’s not a _huevo frito_, that’s a complete imbecile of a so-called cook. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/63 "2019-05-13T08:50:55Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Yes, well. In some countries the working population requires a modest calorific intake and some rehydration in order to effectively carry out proper jobs. > > Other countries, where the main sources of employment are painting your face white and pretending to walk against an invisible wind, or writing interminably dull novels about tiny cakes, not so much. I love French breakfasts, Proust and madeleines (but not mimes) and I laughed out loud. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/64 "2019-05-13T11:31:03Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Yep, that’s it. The woman in _ **YAWYE** _ used a spatula to press down on the egg and keep it immersed in the oil. There’s also an oil-heavy approach you might be interested in that is used in Southeast Asian cooking (and I assume beyond.) They’re actually quite good, but yield a bit of a different final-looking result than Pepin’s method. [See here (should cue up, but at 1:02 if it doesn’t](https://youtu.be/kfsI-GHBmQM?t=62). Or [here’s another example](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F03hSUcg7dM). It does yield quite a delicious fried egg with crispy edges and great textural contrast, but probably an egg you don’t want to eat every day. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/65 "2019-05-13T11:38:59Z")
Hmm, maybe if i use more oil when i fry eggs they won’t stick. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/66 "2019-05-13T12:32:20Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve been to a fair number of Irish pubs in the US; IME, “Irish Breakfast” is common, but I’ve not seen “full English” or “English Breakfast” at any of them. YMMV, of course. You wouldn’t - whether a full breakfast is termed English, Irish (or Welsh or Scottish) is much less about the component ingredients\* and much more about the location in which the breakfast is being served. Therefore Irish pub = Irish breakfast, Welsh B&B = Welsh breakfast, Edinburgh cafe = Scottish breakfast, etc. \*There are trivial differences that add local flavour, for example in the type of white or black pudding that is served, or the type of sausage, but the main components of egg, bacon, mushrooms, sausage, beans and tomatoes are pretty consistent. ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/67 "2019-05-13T13:13:17Z")
I admit that I may not have been paying that much attention when I was still living in the US (I am not and never have been a “Breakfast Time” breakfast foods eater, but I do enjoy an omlette or Full English Breakfast for dinner a couple of times per year) but at least here in Poland, the Irish Pubs specifically advertise “English Breakfast” much more commonly than they do “Irish Breakfast”. Maybe it’s a translation thing or perhaps, in Krakow, where every weekend thousands of English university kids (and plenty of older retired “kids” in their 60’s and 70’s as well) fly over here for the dirt-cheap food & drink, while actual Irish tourists are not nearly as common and so they think it is better marketing? (The Irish Pubs I know here are seemingly always owned and staffed by Poles, not ex-pat Irish) ---
**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:** [May 13, 2019, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/68 "2019-05-13T21:04:16Z")
I think of it as a regular breakfast plus beans and non-breakfast sausage. I’ve not really seen it around here, but I’ve seen it on TV, where it is presented as being internarional/multicultural. In other words, “why not try this variation on breakfast?” Oh, and breakfast sausage is an uncased brown sweet sausage in either patty or link form that goes great with maple syrup. But, honestly, Google would probably tell you better than my description. I’d say it’s the sausage you get at McDonald’s, but I’m not sure that’s the same internationally. I’m pretty sure you don’t get our biscuits… ---
**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:** [May 13, 2019, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/69 "2019-05-13T21:10:28Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > From reading Pomaine and other famous French food writers, I would say that an omelette is a French luncheon dish. It’s certainly too spare for a proper dinner. Maybe a post-theater or post-coital supper. I was under the impression that French lunches were bigger than their dinners. Like it was such a big deal that businesses would shut down for 2 hours or more. Granted, this is a memory from my grade school French teacher, so maybe it’s out of date. (I remember _petit dejeuner_ and _dejeuner_, but not supper.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/70 "2019-05-13T21:11:00Z")
In the US, “breakfast sausage” usually means sausage (usually pork) that’s been heavily flavored with sage. The most common form, in my experience, is cased links, but uncased patties are not uncommon. ---
**Author:** ![toastie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3be4f8/32.png) [@toastie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toastie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2019, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/71 "2019-05-13T21:13:45Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Why would it? It’s an English term. > > Does “green chile cheeseburger” get used outside of New Mexico? I don’t know, but it seems pretty obvious what it is, but I wouldn’t have one for breakfast. > [@](#): > > Does “a double order of stuffies and a coffee cabinet” GT used outside of Rhode Island? As opposed to this, where only one word makes sense in the context of food ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/72 "2019-05-14T01:03:49Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I was under the impression that French lunches were bigger than their dinners. Like it was such a big deal that businesses would shut down for 2 hours or more. > > Granted, this is a memory from my grade school French teacher, so maybe it’s out of date. (I remember _petit dejeuner_ and _dejeuner_, but not supper.) Nah, French lunch is lunch. Dinner is dinner, meaning if you’re lucky, an appetizer, plat, and dessert of fruit, cheese, or a sweet. And plenty of wine. Big midday meals are a rural thing, if you’re out threshing the barley or mowing the alfalfa all day. But in Paris or Lyons or Marseilles, it’s the above. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/73 "2019-05-14T02:03:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Hmm, maybe if i use more oil when i fry eggs they won’t stick. Use a non-stick pan. Seriously, it won’t stick at all to a decent non-stick that hasn’t been scratched up. I usually put a quick spritz of cooking spray on it anyway, just to make sure, but you definitely don’t need more oil if you don’t want to use more oil for the different results it gives. And even with a shit ton of oil on a regular (i.e. not non-stick) pan, you can still get the egg to stick to the pan. OK, maybe not if you have enough oil so the egg never touches the bottom of the pan, but if you look at the second Asian street-fried egg video I linked to, you can see that he’s got to dig in there with his wok spatula to get it to release. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/74 "2019-05-14T11:54:47Z")
In my experience, the “full English/Scottish/Irish” breakfasts are all very similar, basically the same thing differing only with the selection of a local processed meat, the style of fried potatoes, and maybe the preferred brand of beans being different. In and around NYC I’ve noticed “Full Irish” breakfasts listed in some diners or (Irish) pubs that are open for breakfast, but I haven’t seen a “Full English” breakfast listed in the US. (I have seen it in Asia.) The diner that I go to most often near me that lists the Full Irish breakfast specifies “Batchelor beans”, which I thought was a typo, but eventually learned was the brand of canned beans (i.e., not the Heinz one but “Batchelor’s”, I guess it is more popular in or more associated with Ireland?). I’ve traveled in England, Scotland, Wales, and the east coast of Ireland (Dublin to Belfast), and had this kind of meal at Heathrow and elsewhere, any time of day (a “fry-up” for lunch a few times, and almost once for dinner). And one time, I had a “full Scottish breakfast” which supplied fried haggis in addition to or instead of the black pudding. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/75 "2019-05-14T12:05:36Z")
I was familiar with a full English breakfast, but until reading this thread, I can’t recall seeing the phrase “full Irish breakfast”. I’ve been to Ireland. Maybe i just forget. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/76 "2019-05-14T12:18:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Do the French ever eat an omelet for breakfast, or is that strictly a dinner food? Nope, that’s not done. The standart breakfast is coffee+buttered bread, possibly jam, period. Chocolate and nowadays often cereals for the kids. Maybe fruit juice. Not much deviation from this. No kind of hot dish (or cold dish, for that matter). ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/77 "2019-05-14T12:20:03Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > I’ve traveled in England, Scotland, Wales, and the east coast of Ireland (Dublin to Belfast), and had this kind of meal at Heathrow and elsewhere, any time of day (a “fry-up” for lunch a few times, and almost once for dinner). And one time, I had a “full Scottish breakfast” which supplied fried haggis in addition to or instead of the black pudding. This is my favourite thing about a ‘full Scottish’ - I love the haggis, goes brilliantly with the beans. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/78 "2019-05-14T12:27:37Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Yes, well. In some countries the working population requires a modest calorific intake and some rehydration in order to effectively carry out proper jobs. I’ve been raised in a very backward rural area, and the eating habbits of the old farmers were pretty different. Something typical for breakfast would have been buckwheat “galettes” and soup, with a healthy dose of wine in the soup. Cheese or cold cuts could be on the menu too. My great-grandfather liked to have eggs for breakfast, but his wife was greedy and eggs could be sold. When he became ill and incapacited, she denied him eggs. One of his neighbors began to steal his eggs in the early morning and smuggle them to him past his wife. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/79 "2019-05-14T12:48:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I was under the impression that French lunches were bigger than their dinners. Like it was such a big deal that businesses would shut down for 2 hours or more. > > Granted, this is a memory from my grade school French teacher, so maybe it’s out of date. (I remember _petit dejeuner_ and _dejeuner_, but not supper.) It’s a bit out of date, yes. Lunches have had a tendency to become lighter. And people working can’t really have a 2 hours lunch. But a full seated meal, with starter, entree, and dessert is still normal. And yes, shops used to shut down in the early afternoon. Not offices and such, though. My lunch break went from one hour to 45 minutes to now 30 minutes during my career. When I was a kid in the countryside, and relatives were invited for lunch that was…basically an all day affair. The first guests will be there around 11, and there was the “aperitif” until everybody had showed up around 1 pm, at which point the lunch could start. With all the talking, the lunch would progress very slowly to the despair of kids like me. By the time the dessert was finished, it was 4 p.m. Time for the “digestif”. Which would bring us to 5 pm and coffee time. A short break during which women would go clean the dishes, some more talking and it was time for the “apéritif” preceding dinner. Rinse and repeat. At about 10-11 pm, people would leave, half of them not having left the table the whole time. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2019, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821/80 "2019-05-14T12:56:02Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > …My great-grandfather liked to have eggs for breakfast, but his wife was greedy and eggs could be sold. When he became ill and incapacited, she denied him eggs. One of his neighbors began to steal his eggs in the early morning and smuggle them to him past his wife. I’m curious about the household economics and dynamics that led to this. Were eggs her only source of money she had any control over? Or if they had shared access to other sources of income, what little luxury was she denied by her husband greedily consuming all the eggs? That’s just a strange, sad story. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-term-full-english-get-used-outside-uk/833821.md?page=5)