The Language (and travel) Thread

[aely]

Bramble jelly is blackberries, though I have seen raspberry jelly too.

 

Marmite is one of those love or hate things. I hate it.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Love anything made with blackberries.   It sounds like marmite could be a bit strong.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I've never had the nerve to try Marmite, but Vegemite (the Australian equivalent) is kind of -- umm -- intense.

 

[Liselle]

Marmite is a topic which is fiercely debated in Britain If you love it, you reaaally love it, and if you hate it, you reeeaallly hate it. Personally I fall into the 'love it' camp; I could eat it all day; on toast, as a sandwich, on crumpets...  It is strong, but I don't mind that, cos I generally love strong flavours. But I can easily understand why some people hate it.

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

  I can imagine it would be intense, especially if the Vegemite comes from the same process as the marmite.

[Julia Mae]

Brewer's yeast, which is sometimes called "nutritional yeast" is very good for you,  packed with B vitamins and iron.  I suspect Marmite would be, also.  But it sounds very high in salt.   Island nations which have trouble providing enough red meat or leafy greens to a population, often have some food that supplements in the B-vitamin iron category.  In Japan, it's seaweed.   Sounds like Marmite could be the kind of thing that would fit the bill.  I love brewer's yeast, myself, my daughter can't abide it.  I bet we'd be on opposite sides of the Great Marmite Debate.

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast myself (given a good brand, that is), but Vegemite is too salty for my taste.  Even the thinnest possible smear on a piece of toast is barely tolerable.  It might be acceptable as an underlayer for something with more actual flavor, but I can't imagine that it would contribute much (other than salt).

 

Also, I'm not so sure that Marmite-type products are the nutritional equivalent of brewer's/nutritional yeast.  They appear to be more highly processed, so I'd have to know what the process actually is before I'd want to eat any of them on a regular basis.

 

Added:  Here's some information on that subject.

 

[Liselle]

Yeah, Marmite is good for you in some ways, but it does have a very high salt content, so it's best not to eat too much of it. And I'm not sure about this, but I think Vegemite is stronger than Marmite. I don't know; we don't have it here.

[Julia Mae]

I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast myself (given a good brand, that is), but Vegemite is too salty for my taste.

 

I hear you.  Being somewhat odd, I'm a person who puts anchovies on pizza and then salts it.  (I know.)  I use KAL, BTW.  I get it from Amazon where I think the best prices are.  I don't know about Vegemite, I did check the labelling on the Marmite and it does have a nice B-vitamin complement as well as iron. 

 

I also saw a variety of recipes using it.  I can see stirring it into oatmeal, myself. 

 

[Liselle]

I use Marmite in lots of things when I'm cooking. I love putting it into an alternative recipe I use for spaghetti bolognese; it's not a tomato sauce, so it's not as weird as you think

[aely]

I used to throw Worcestershire sauce into everything, don't tend to have marmite or vegemite in the house.

[Liselle]

I use Worcestershire sauce in the Bolognese recipe as well, aely; I love it Can't beat cheese on toast with a splash of Worcestershire, either!

[Carol the Dabbler]

I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast myself (given a good brand, that is)....

 

I use KAL, BTW.  I get it from Amazon where I think the best prices are.

 

  Yup, KAL is yummy!  (Some other brands are downright nasty!)

 

Here's a recipe you might like, from another forum.  I call it My Version of Rachel's Adaptation of Edna's Spread:

 

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp ghee

1/4 cup (or more) KAL nutritional yeast flakes *

1/4 tsp salt (or to taste!!!)

 

Mix.  Store in a covered container at room temperature.  Good on toast, veggies, pasta, etc.

 

* If all you have is nutritional yeast powder, use only half as much.

[Julia Mae]

 

I'm a big fan of nutritional yeast myself (given a good brand, that is)....

 

I use KAL, BTW.  I get it from Amazon where I think the best prices are.

 

  Yup, KAL is yummy!  (Some other brands are downright nasty!)

 

Here's a recipe you might like, from another forum.  I call it My Version of Rachel's Adaptation of Edna's Spread:

 

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp ghee

1/4 cup (or more) KAL nutritional yeast flakes *

1/4 tsp salt (or to taste!!!)

 

Mix.  Store in a covered container at room temperature.  Good on toast, veggies, pasta, etc.

 

* If all you have is nutritional yeast powder, use only half as much.

 

 

It never occurred to me to use it this way.  I just stick in the blender with skim milk and/or soy milk and berries and vanilla and it's breakfast. 

 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I just stick in the blender with skim milk and/or soy milk and berries and vanilla and it's breakfast.

 

You're made of stouter stuff than I am!

 

I like brewer's yeast just fine with certain savory flavors, but must admit that I have no interest in trying it with fruit.

 

[Julia Mae]

 

You're made of stouter stuff than I am!

 

I like brewer's yeast just fine with certain savory flavors, but must admit that I have no interest in trying it with fruit.

 

 

See, that's so interesting.  It's delicious (to me) and takes no stoutness at all.  (Not that I don't have plenty of "stout" to spare!)   Now, be careful of whiplash, I'm going to post something on-topic......

 

 

 

 

I HAVE A BE LANGUAGE QUESTION, PLS:

 

I need a Britishism for someone making you feel like ... like, well,  you've been an insensitive clod, and someone - a friend, makes you aware of that.  How do you finish the sentence

 

"You made me feel like a _____."

 

I wrote it: "insensitive toad."  Not because I thought it was British, but because I thought the character would say such a thing.  He's not angry or anything, he's trying to be funny and honest.  But if there are a few culturally-derived suggestions, I am, as we say in AE: "all ears."

 

[Liselle]

We say 'all-ears' in BE too

Well, I think 'you made me feel like a complete and utter berk' would be very BE

[aely]

 Berk is quite polite imo, not that that's a bad thing.

 

You could also use 'arse' - it's a very useful word, we're fond of it in the north west and use it for all sorts of things.

 

"you made me feel like a right arse" is something that I would hear more than 'a complete and utter berk'

 

 

 

The uses of arse....

 

terminology meaning your rear end

a stupid, irritating, or contemptible person (also al arse in Liverpool)

behave in a stupid way; waste time (arse around)

make a botched attempt at something (arse something up - also balls up is used in a similar way)

not want to do something because one has no interest in or enthusiasm for it (can't be arsed)

used to convey that one does not believe something that has just been said (my arse; often added at the end of a sentence repeating the unbelievable statement)

to talk rubbish (to talk out of/through ones arse - I used this expression on page 13)

be totally ignorant or incompetent (to not know your arse from your elbow)

to fall over in dramatic fashion (to go arse over tit/arse over elbow)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Julia Mae]

We say 'all-ears' in BE too

 

Well, I think 'you made me feel like a complete and utter berk' would be very BE

 

How very Harry Potter!  Good to know, my online slang source says it's become rather a rare.  Thanks.

 

[bborchar]

I can't stand marmite or vegemite (I've tried both).  Blech, blech.  Just like eating salt.

[Julia Mae]

 

 Berk is quite polite imo, not that that's a bad thing.

 

You could also use 'arse' - it's a very useful word, we're fond of it in the north west and use it for all sorts of things.

 

"you made me feel like a right arse" is something that I would hear more than 'a complete and utter berk'

 

The uses of arse....

 

terminology meaning your rear end

a stupid, irritating, or contemptible person (also al arse in Liverpool)

behave in a stupid way; waste time (arse around)

make a botched attempt at something (arse something up - also balls up is used in a similar way)

not want to do something because one has no interest in or enthusiasm for it (can't be arsed)

used to convey that one does not believe something that has just been said (my arse; often added at the end of a sentence repeating the unbelievable statement)

to talk rubbish (to talk out of/through ones arse - I used this expression on page 13)

be totally ignorant or incompetent (to not know your arse from your elbow)

to fall over in dramatic fashion (to go arse over tit/arse over elbow)

 

 

Oh, yay!  aely wrote us an "arse" treatise!  MY, this really is an all-purpose epithet, isn't it?

 

Let's see: we say "my ass" the way you do, to indicate disbelief.   And "talking through his ass" to mean speaking bulls***.  (That which is false, untrue or unbelieveable.)  This is related to "blow it out yer ass" which also means "I don't believe a word you are saying"  - or - "I don't give a rat's ass" about what you are saying.  (Rats being somewhat poorly endowed in that area of anatomy.)  We say the last two, also, with the spelling change.

 

The time-wasting use and the botched attempt use seem quite uniquely BE to me. 

 

Here's the redoubtable Mr. Cumberbatch using the word in yet another way:

 

 

 

 

[Liselle]

*watches video*

Horse-faced?! HORSE-FACED?!!!

I will hunt down whoever uttered such falsehoods and destroy them!! How dare they say such a thing about our beloved Benedict?

Ahem... aaaanyway...

 

"you made me feel like a right arse" is something that I would hear more than 'a complete and utter berk'

 

I would say it's a regional difference again then, because in the Midlands 'berk' is quite a common word. Especially in Leicester. Though 'a right arse' is also pretty common; I was actually trying to think of that when I was writing my last post

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

Wooden and untalented? What is wrong with some people! Bollocks!

[Julia Mae]

Wooden and untalented? What is wrong with some people! Bollocks!

 

They said something quite similar to Katharine Hepburn, iirc.  And Lucile Ball.  And Dustin Hoffman. 

 

Perhaps he should consider it a seal of approval.

 

[Bakerstreet Irregular]

  Seal of approval or just the evidence of how really dim some people can be.