# Food terminology v3: Pudding! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 15, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572 "2011-06-15T15:54:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/41 "2011-06-16T22:26:36Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Interesting. I wonder if this quote (which of course comes from a Pink Floyd song) makes much sense to people outside the UK. > > The sense in which ‘pudding’ is used here is the general term for the dessert course of a meal. I knew what it meant when I heard it, but yeah, I do think of it as “No Bill Cosby treats for you!” But this line got me into trouble with my son when he was small. Like, high chair small. He was resisting his dinner, and so the line came out of my mouth. And, of course, he wanted pudding. Bill Cosby style pudding. Which I didn’t have in the house. :smack: He got sweetened yogurt instead, but he was not happy about it! ---
**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:** [June 16, 2011, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/42 "2011-06-16T23:39:36Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I already understood this British usage. Actually, if I’m not mistaken, the “meat” here isn’t necessarily “meat” in the specific sense of “animal flesh” but just “meat” in the general sense of “solid food” or “a meal.” That may well be true. > [@](#): > > Either way, if I hadn’t I think it would make perfect sense in the American meaning. The kid wants pudding (for dessert, presumably) and he can’t get it until he’s eaten meat. It seems oddly specific, but perhaps appropriately surreal or absurd in the context of a Pink Floyd lyric. Agreed. Oddly specific was what I meant, really. ---
**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:** [June 16, 2011, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/43 "2011-06-16T23:42:47Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > …“If you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pie”… Just wanted to point out that this in turn sounds really weird to my English ears (because ‘pie’ without any qualifier, _is_ a pie filled with meat) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/44 "2011-06-17T00:07:22Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Just wanted to point out that this in turn sounds really weird to my English ears (because ‘pie’ without any qualifier, _is_ a pie filled with meat) Whereas in America, though we do have “pot pies,” and pizzas are sometimes referred to as “pies,” the unqualified word “pie” almost always refers to a dessert. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/45 "2011-06-17T00:16:49Z")
A creamy, milk-based dessert. Chocolate, vanilla, butterscotch, tapioca, etc. I am aware of the British definition, but being in central Illinois, I don’t use the word that way except to my daughter. ---
**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:** [June 17, 2011, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/46 "2011-06-17T08:19:37Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Whereas in America, though we do have “pot pies,” and pizzas are sometimes referred to as “pies,” the unqualified word “pie” almost always refers to a dessert. Indeed. We might need a thread on this. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/47 "2011-06-17T13:42:08Z")
I haven’t listened to The Wall in years, and therefore never made this connection. I’ve always envisioned a boarding school cafeteria, with huge tubs of chocolate and vanilla (American style) pudding, which was all that was offered for dessert. I actually like that image better, so thanks for ruining the song for me. ---
**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:** [June 18, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/food-terminology-v3-pudding/585572/48 "2011-06-18T13:12:35Z")
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