Merkan-English Dictionary #17

Thought I'd better splain some English expressions too, for a change.

Bubble and Squeak - A uniquely English dish, composed (or decomposed) of fried up leftovers. And then given an odd name 'cause kids will eat anything with a funny name, as long as they don't see eyeballs.

Dick Van DykeSpotted Dick - There he is!


Toad in the Hole - Toad. Hole. What could be smipler? Apart from the complete lack of toads or indeed holes. I mean, isn't it obvious that this refers to sausages cooked in Yorkshire Pudding batter? With gravy. Mmmm...

Grill / Broiler - It's a grill because you put stuff under it and then grill it. Broil isn't even a proper word, I bet someone accidentally put an 'r' in 'boil' and then had to come up with a plausible excuse in a hurry and that's the best they could do at short notice. "I'm just going to broil an egg." "You're going to what?" "Erm. Broil an egg? You know, like boiling it only, like, under the grill." "Oh, you mean like scrambled egg on toast, only grilled a bit more after putting the egg on the toast?" "Yes, that's totally what I meant. Broiled. I'm just nipping down to the library to write that in the dictionary since you've obviously never heard of that word before. Then I'll come right back and broil that egg and serve it up and eat it. You want some? "Oh, yes please, can I have mine with some spramped parsley?"

TurnipTurnip - We carve these out and put candles in them at Halloween (HAL-LOW-EEN) to make ugly scary faces and that.

McCainMcCain - They make French Fries and roast potatoes and that, right?