Grammar Geek  +  285186 Tue, 24 Oct 06 10:15 PM But Nona, while we're on the subject, what in heaven's name is a crumpet? Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,506 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!

	Yankee  +  285192 Tue, 24 Oct 06 10:33 PM I've always kind of wondered whether what we call "English muffins" in the US would be recognized by someone from England as being English (and whether they're also called English muffins in England). Yankee Joined on Sat, Apr 15 2006 Connecticut, USA Veteran Member 6,407 Amy "You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

	nona the brit  +  285210 Tue, 24 Oct 06 11:28 PM Oooh crumpets, yummmmyyyyy. And no, English muffins have nothing to do with England.This thread recently moved from omlettes on to a discussion of English muffins and crumpets Post:262088. Crumpets are only one level - they aren't split in two or have a top and bottom half like an english muffin. They also are more yeasty/doughy in flavour with a very weird texture, not breadlike or cake like or English muffin like. Actually, they are rather like a synthetic bathroom sponge in texture....but they taste great and all those massive holes (which go all the way down to the base) are designed to soak up a very fattening amount of melted butter. You toast them then slosh on the butter and it all melts down into the crumpet. Heaven on a plate. I like them well-toasted so the top and base go all hard and chewy while the middle is still soft, but most people like them just lightly toasted so they are soft all through. Boy I want a couple of crumpets right now See the pic nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,743 The name says it all.

	khoff  +  285314 Wed, 25 Oct 06 06:37 AM Can we go back to biscotti for a minute?  I think the word means "twice baked" -- biscotti (as they are known in the U.S.) are first partly baked in a sort of long, flat loaf, then removed from the oven and sliced and then baked again.  The same technique is used for a Jewish cookie called mandel broit, although biscotti are usually bigger.  Both get quite hard, so they keep for a long time and are best dunked in tea or coffee. khoff Joined on Sun, Mar 6 2005 Senior Member 3,216 Native speaker of American English (but not a grammar expert)

	J Lewis  +  285462 Wed, 25 Oct 06 03:36 PM Biscotto - or biscuit in French - does in fact mean twice "twice baked". Most biscuits/cookies don't deserve that name as they're baked only once. "Cookie" comes from the Dutch, something like koeken (AnnVan, you can help us there!), which is also the origin of "cake"; pannekoek means pancake. As for changes in meaning on passing from one country to another, take the Italian word peperone (note the single p, by the way), which means a vegetable pepper (e.g. green or red). It's now used, at leaat in GB, to mean a hot spicy sausage (with the p doubled for some reason). The Italians play pin-ball. They give it an English name, but not pin-ball. They call it flipper! PS Crumpets: I haven't eaten them for years, but I fully share Nona's sentiments! I believe they are what the Americans call English muffins, but not what the English call muffins, which I'm a bit confused about. Sounds rather old-fashioned. J Lewis Joined on Tue, Sep 5 2006 Italy Regular Member 518 Cookies

	Grammar Geek  +  290485 Wed, 08 Nov 06 03:39 AM It's hard to imagine writing three page on cupcakes. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing: Start your sentences with a capital letter. The word "I" is also a capital letter. "u" belongs in a text message, not in "ur" writing. Check your spelling. Aside from that, how can we help you? Grammar Geek Capital Letters, Spelling

	CalifJim  +  433564 Mon, 22 Oct 07 09:36 PM It's hard to imagine writing three page on cupcakes.   I think whole books have been written on the subject.  No?  CJ CalifJim Joined on Mon, Aug 2 2004 California Veteran Member 22,128 "There are no facts, only interpretations" - Nietzsche