- What does MP stand for? What do they do?
- What is “bubble and squeak” ?
- What is potato pie?
- What does “Bob’s your uncle” mean?
An MP is a Member of Parliament, our elected representatives in the House of Commons (the lower, but more powerful, of the two Houses of Parliament).
Bubble and squeak is a dish traditionally made from beef with left-over cooked potatoes and cabbage. Nowadays it’s basically fried potato and cabbage and whatever else was left over from yesterday’s dinner, often bacon and onion.
Potato pie is a new one on me. Shepherd’s pie I know, stovies I know, potato pie I don’t.
Bob’s your uncle is a saying meaning “easily done”:
Potato top pie? Common name around here at least (NZ) for a meat pie with mashed potato instead of a pastry roof if the pie is small (say burger sized).
A larger family version of the same thing would usually be called a Shepherd’s Pie as mattk says.
I’ve not heard of potato pie either, but you never know what some companies will call their microwave meals - Birds Eye Potato Pie?
MP’s do what their Whips tell them to do. (A Whip is appointed by a political party to keep control of the MP’s).
Is there an American equivalent to a Whip?
Potato Pie is more common, and therefore better known, in northern parts of England (e.g. Lancashire, where I have my roots) rather than the South. It is a slightly misleading term, since I’ve never heard of anyone making a pie that has only potatoes in it (although given the richness of human experience, doubtless the very next poster will correct me on this…). What I understand it to mean is any pie for which the main filling is potatoes and something else - beef, lamb or other meat, or veg. The phrase ‘meat and potato pie’ was oft heard in my youth, but if you said ‘potato pie’ that was understood to mean the same thing.
BTW, precisely because “Bob’s your Uncle” is such a cliche, there is a current ‘witty’ trend to substitute intentionally long-winded variants, e.g. “…and Robert is your mother’s brother”. Tiresome, I suppose, but since we live on a cold, damp little rock adrift from all the worthwhile parts of Europe, we have have to make our own amusement where we can.
Is there an American equivalent to a Whip?
There is the majority leader who is a member selected by the majority party. There is a similar office called the minority whip for the minority party. I don’t think they exert nearly as much control as they do in England.
There is two of each one for the senate and one for the house.
Dang,
This grammer stuff is tricky.
There ARE two of each one for the senate and one for the house.
In Britain Whips exist to exert the power of the executive over the legislature, a feature of the British system of government. No threats are impossible- recent cases involve the whips office letting the press know about aleged sexual affairs, financial dealings etc. which have no basis in fact. If the whips lets the appropriate newspaper know of a possible story (even without foundation), then that paper will bite! And these people belong to the same party. Additionally, because the British system is so strongly party based, threats of deselection really work- ‘If you don’t vote this way (even though you promised your constituents the opposite) then you won’t be in Parliament next time.’
Oftentimes what they do is tantamount to Blackmail, but no-one will sand up to them.
Now, why can’t more Brits be honest like this instead of coming up with all those tired excuses for the things y’all do?
