# The English are not an inventive people, they do not eat enough pie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697 "2003-06-23T04:21:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Xerxes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/d2c977/32.png) [@Xerxes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xerxes)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/41 "2003-06-23T15:51:41Z")
> [@](#): > > _originally posted by_\* Exapno Mapcase\*\*\* > > You call our fine Georgia pecans scrummy? Yep. Scrummy, not **scummy** … And because I like to think of myself as an equal-opportunity nut-eulogiser, I can report that I nearly fainted with delight the first time I tasted a macadamia nut (from Australia, as I recall)… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_great_unwashed/32/4791_2.png) [@The\_Great\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Great_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/42 "2003-06-23T15:52:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*Bell may have been born in Scotland, but he did his inventing of the telephone after he moved to America and away from meat pies. \*\* Actually, that other famous Englishman Leonardo da Vinci invented the _first_ telephone. Of course it wasn’t any use until AGB invented the second, or something. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Doris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Sir\_Doris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Doris)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/43 "2003-06-23T15:52:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Derleth \* > \*\* > :: ducks brickbats :: > \*\* We throw _custard_ pies 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/44 "2003-06-23T15:56:45Z")
How long until this gets sent down to IMHO or MPSIMS? ---
**Author:** ![WILLASS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/54ee81/32.png) [@WILLASS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WILLASS)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/45 "2003-06-23T16:03:33Z")
NinjaChick, shouldn’t that be ewe? ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/46 "2003-06-23T16:17:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by The Great Unwashed \* > \*\*that other famous Englishman Leonardo da Vinci invented the _first_ telephone \*\* da Vinci was a Scot, and it was Druids who invented the telephone pole (which they spelled “caber” since no one taught them proper English). Everyone knows that an [American](http://www.nyfolklore.org/pubs/voic28-3-4/grape.html) invented grape pie, which is evidence for rampant Grapism, not inventiveness. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/47 "2003-06-23T16:36:51Z")
Oh, yeah, the OP. Anybody remember the OP? Anyway, I found a [page](http://www.intuitionworks.com/diyex.htm) that adds a bit to the original quote: > [@](#): > > Thomas Edison, the inventor, said “The English are not inventive people, they don’t eat enough pie. To invent, your system must be out of order…” Though, with all those organ pies, I can’t imagine how their systems could not be not out of order… ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/48 "2003-06-23T17:48:58Z")
Of course, when you really do some serious research, the truth is revealed: The English invented apple pie! [http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/exhibits/food/panl4ukno.html](http://www.lib.ucdavis.edu/exhibits/food/panl4ukno.html) We also do other things similar - apple crumble anyone? Oh - and in reference to an earlier post claiming television as an american invention - it was a scot who invented the TV, while living in London (that’s in England btw 🙂 ) > **[Home | Arts](https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/)** > > Welcome to the Faculty of Arts, a dynamic community of students, faculty and staff working in and across the humanities, social sciences and creative arts. Our ideas and actions are propelled by curiosity, creativity, and a deep commitment to... ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/49 "2003-06-23T18:34:57Z")
Baird didn’t invent true television. That was left to Farnsworth, who was from Utah. (that’s in the US). [http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae408.cfm](http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae408.cfm) Don’t give me any of that half-assed Scottish television. ---
**Author:** ![FranticMad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c68b51/32.png) [@FranticMad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FranticMad)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/50 "2003-06-23T19:07:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > \*\*Baird didn’t invent true television. That was left to Farnsworth, who was from Utah. (that’s in the US). > > Don’t give me any of that half-assed Scottish television. \*\* Revisionist piffle. If it weren’t for the Scots, there would be no Utah, and therefore no television. [Incontrovertible Proof!](http://historytogo.utah.gov/british.html) ---
**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:** [June 23, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/51 "2003-06-23T20:25:04Z")
I think that the whole distinction is a language problem, like how the British insist oun putting Us intou aull ouf theiur wourds. See, there are two different objects here: There is the thing which Americans (properly) call pie, and there is the thing which the British (improperly) call pie. Aside from the coincidence of wourds, they’re completely different. When Edison, an American (we can conclusively prove that he’s American by the fact that he’s inventive, and no Brit is inventive) used the term “pie”, he properly meant “crust filled with sweet stuff, to be eaten for dessert or breakfast”. Hence, he’s correct that the Brits don’t eat enough pie. If he had meant what the British refer to as pie, he would have used the American translation, which is “the stuff that’s swept up off of the packing-house floor, after the dogs have taken all the bits they consider fit to eat”. ---
**Author:** ![Muad\_Dib](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/35a633/32.png) [@Muad\_Dib](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muad_Dib)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/52 "2003-06-23T20:48:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bakhesh \* > \*\*this is a hideous slur on me and my countrymen. > > We eat lots of pie!! > 🙂 \*\* Oh be quite you… you… um… you crumpet eating bastards!!! hehe, crumpets. ---
**Author:** ![keithnmick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90db22/32.png) [@keithnmick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keithnmick)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/53 "2003-06-23T20:52:54Z")
KEep believing what you want, but don’t tell this guy as I’m excedingly sure he’ll have some harsh words for you: [http://www.mrkipling.co.uk/](http://www.mrkipling.co.uk/) ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/54 "2003-06-23T20:58:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > **Baird didn’t invent true television. That was left to Farnsworth, who was from Utah. (that’s in the US).** Absolute clap trap. Baird was sending moving images by means of electromagentic waves **two years** before Farnsworth. If that doesn’t count as being first what does? Farnsworth’s version inevitably had a greater future, as Baird’s camera and receivers were mechanical rather than electronic, but at the time Baird’s system was very much **superior** to Farnsworth’s. To say that this was not the first TV is like saying Wrights didn’t invent flight because they didn’t use the jet propulsion that would later prove top be superior.\* This Farnsworth revisionism is a new conceit on the part of the Americans. At the time Baird was recognised as being the first in the New York Times. Baird went on to be the to invent colour TV. Another first. [The whole sorry tale of American revisionism and a fair amount of double dealing.](http://www.electricscotland.com/history/other/john_logie_baird.htm) - Yes, I know this is another disputed first, by the analogy still applies. ---
**Author:** ![Encinitas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/55 "2003-06-23T21:23:47Z")
Edison didn’t mean **pie** per se. He meant **pi**. Which we all know was invented by the Greeks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/56 "2003-06-23T21:37:31Z")
> [@](#): > > **MC Master of Ceremonies:** Steak and kidny pie, if you just had kidney pie it would be vile, but you need offal to make a truly good pie. I’ll never look at another Steak & Kidney pie the same way again after reading of this little bit from _Ulysses_: > [@](#): > > Mr Leopold Bloom ate with relish the inner organs of beasts and fowls. He liked thick giblet soup, nutty gizzards, a stuffed roast heart, liverslices fried with crustcrumbs, fried hencods’ roes. Most of all he liked grilled mutton kidneys which gave to his palate a fine tang of faintly scented urine. Mmmm… ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/57 "2003-06-23T21:40:16Z")
Please strike that “of” – it was a vestige of “without being reminded of,” not an admission that I only read the Cole’s notes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/58 "2003-06-23T21:58:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Neurotik \* > Nah, key lime pies are the same thing. I just didn’t feel like making the distinction. Aaaaaaaiiiiiiigh! No. No no no no no no no. Lemon (or lime) merengue pie: a delicious way to top off almost any meal. Key lime pie: a delight to all the senses, nectar of the gods. Can top off any meal or, better yet, meals can be designed around it. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/bb73d2/32.png) [@MC\_Master\_of\_Ceremonies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MC_Master_of_Ceremonies)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/59 "2003-06-23T22:14:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Larry Mudd \* > \*\*I’ll never look at another Steak & Kidney pie the same way again after reading of this little bit from _Ulysses_:Mmmm… \*\* The sad thing is reading that passage made me drool, sheep’s kidneys are excellent grilled. ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697/60 "2003-06-23T22:34:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Futile Gesture \* > \*_To say that this was not the first TV is like saying Wrights didn’t invent flight because they didn’t use the jet propulsion that would later prove top be superior._ \*\* Actually, the difference between Baird’s television and Farnsworth’s television is like the difference between Babbage’s Analytical Engine and the Atanasoff-Berry computer. Baird’s was good, but Farnsworth’s is what we think of when we think of television - electronic. And of course, your article neglects to mention Herbert Ives, who had color television in 1929, two way television in 1930 (think picture phone), and high resolution TV over coaxial cables 1937. Basically, your cite is just a well-deserved giant pat on the back for Baird (and of course, saying he was the only Scot to ever change the world is ridiculous, too - Adam Smith, anyone?). Baird was a genius who made many ground-breaking advancements in science and technology, but Farnsworth had the first electronic television which is what we talk about when we talk about television. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-english-are-not-an-inventive-people-they-do-not-eat-enough-pie/183697.md?page=4)