Barrel Stands (and other weird desires)

[LK]

Well, you're missing out, my friend!  Free refills are better than winning the lotto!  You only have to pay for ONE drink!  And fill it up as many times as you want!  At no charge!  All the fast food places--and sit-down places as well--are doing it (since, like, the 80's)! 

And please tell me you have Mountain Dew.  I've always wanted to go to England, but I may have to reconsider if you don't have Mountain Dew.  Spain sure as heck didn't.

[Trubble]

Well considering your small size drinks are supposedly the sizes of our large, I doubt I'd need a refill over there

Well, no. I think there are probably some rare places you can get it, but I remember in TS1 the Pepsi machine - wondering what half the drinks were. We have Ben and Jerry's ice cream though...

[LK]

Aaaaaaa!  No Mountain Dew!  A caffeine/sugar ecstasy! 

Do you have any local carbonated beverages?  Maybe the American stuff just doesn't get other there.  We literally have more than 50 different kinds over here.  And that's just Coke: Regular Coke, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Lime Coke, Vanilla Coke, Coke C2, Diet Caffeine Free Coke (water), Diet Cherry Coke, Diet Lime Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke. 

Then there's Pepsi--Regular Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Twist (Lemon), Vanilla Pepsi, Cherry Pepsi, Pepsi One, Diet Pepsi Twist, Diet Cherry Pepsi, et cetera. 

Then Mountain Dew has over five different flavors: Regular, Diet, Code Red (Cherry), Live Wire (Orange), Black Forest (or something--Grape), and Baja Blast (blueberry, I think). 

Then there's your various root beers, Shasta (which has probably 10 different flavors), plus RC (and Diet RC), and Diet Rite, and literally thousands of other things.

[Trubble]

Hmm... we have all those cokes, not so many of the pepsies. but then that's less popular. Eh, local stuff? Does lemonade count? And cherryade, and limeade and all the other 'ades we have, Dr Pepper, 7up, fanta, panda pops (pure sugared water and additives)... We have flavoured waters of which some are carbonated... I don't really drink fizzy drinks, so... y'know. I'm going by the stock take I did at work the other week - I did the drinks aisle, amongst other things. The vanilla coke I bought today is the first fizzy I've had in about two months.

[Brynne]

Exactly - don't the southerners call it a "soda" and the northerners call it "pop"?

I live in the south, and I remember back in the 80's it was always "coke".

"You want a coke or something?"
"Sure, what kind do you have?"
"7 Up or Dr. Pepper..."

I spent most of my elementary school years up north in New Jersey, and I think it was "pop" or "soda pop" up there. But, then again, my mom is from Chicago so I could have gotten that from her. But women had "pocketbooks" in N.J., "purses" in Atlanta. Since I was a navy brat (my dad was a marine then reassigned to the navy once I was born), I've lived in Massachussetts (where I was born), Charleston S.C., SanFrancisco, California (I was about two and called it "sinsincoco" ), Hawaii, New Jersey, then to Atlanta when I was 10. I would get used to calling things by one name, then we'd move and I'd have to learn the new lingo.  When I was in my early 20's, I was visiting my cousins in Denver. I was watching the news, and the story was something about homemade bombs in "pop bottles". I had to ask what a "pop bottle" was. As soon as I asked, I figured it out and felt stupid, but for a second I thought a "pop bottle" must be some kind of bomb casing or something.

My dad lived in England for a while and that was an even more complex transition. He rented a bungalow from a family, and one day I was over at the family's side of the house playing with their daughter. Her "mummy" came into the playroom and asked me something. I asked her to repeat it. She did, and I was too embarrassed to ask her to repeat it again, but I just could not understand what she was saying. So I guessed and answered "yes", she gave me an odd look then left the room. Wish I knew what she said!

[Sandilou]

(How many pops/sodas/soda pops/fizzy drinks/carbonated beverages do you have in England? And do you have free refills? Because they're really what freedom is all about.)

Pizza Huts in London do refills if you eat in.  Pay once, all refills are free.

[Trubble]

Wow, really? I can't remember the last time I went to Pizza Hut...

[Brynne]

(How many pops/sodas/soda pops/fizzy drinks/carbonated beverages do you have in England? And do you have free refills? Because they're really what freedom is all about.)

Pizza Huts in London do refills if you eat in.  Pay once, all refills are free.

I wonder if you order for delivery they'll keep coming back to refill your drink...

[Ancient Sim]

I have this knack of starting threads on certain topics and somehow they change to something entirely different ... anyway, I'm from Northern England (Yorkshire, to be precise, although I live in Lancashire) and I have never heard of the word "plodge". 

It's amazing how clueless most Americans are about British words.  I have a "Brit Quiz" somewhere on my website and the number of transatlantically-challenged persons who thought a sarnie was a sanitary towel ... and as for "Spotted Dick" - well, I won't go into what some people came up with for that one.  Fanny pack pales in comparison ...

Chip butty, anyone???

[Trubble]

Yeah I could go for one, I'm hungry.

I couldn't remember if America had Spotted Dick or not... evidently not

[LK]

I've heard of Spotted Dick, but I can't think of what it is now.  Is it food?  Please don't laugh.

[Trubble]

It's a sort of cake thing, yes. With raisins? Ancient Sim, you're gonna have to back me up on this.

[LK]

Yes!  I knew it!  Sort of!

[Trubble]

*laughs* I think it's a rarity these days, more of an old fashioned pudding like semolina et al.

[LK]

My favorite is the Turkish Delight.  We have a British store in my city, and they have those, and they're great!

[Trubble]

You know, Turkish Delight (probably) originated in Turkey... they are good though.

[LK]

That's what you'd think, but the first time I had one was in the 4th grade, and they were served by a native English lady, and she said that they originated there (as in England). 

[Trubble]

Heh, what do you know, from the first page of google (I don't care that much about this) it would seem Cadbury invented it! Coolness - which means you're right. Cadbury is our big chocolate manufacturer here - I've been to the factory, it wuz awsum! (actually chocolate manufacture is surprisingly boring)

[Liss]

Well imagine my reaction when I first heard a Brit say "smoke a fag,"  I thought it was a hate crime.

[Trubble]

*dies laughing*

[Brynne]

I have this knack of starting threads on certain topics and somehow they change to something entirely different ...

That's funny. I have a knack for making threads come to a screeching halt when I post. I notice my name is the "last post" on many threads!
And if I cause this one to die, as well, my apologies...

Tee'd that one right up for y'all.

[Sandilou]

I've heard of Spotted Dick, but I can't think of what it is now.

Tesco's sell them here in the UK.  In my house it's known as Spotted Private Parts

[veilchen]

That's funny. I have a knack for making threads come to a screeching halt when I post. I notice my name is the "last post" on many threads!
And if I cause this one to die, as well, my apologies...

Tee'd that one right up for y'all.

But Val, that's only because you sum everything up so nicely. What is there left to say for us mere mortals :D
Besides, your posts simply exhaust me. I read about all that work that you are doing and I feel utterly spent. Overwork by proxy, I'd say. I can't but admire your patience, if that was me, game, computer, desk, etc. would've long been residing in my friendly neighborhood landfill.

G.

[Brynne]

But Val, that's only because you sum everything up so nicely. What is there left to say for us mere mortals
Besides, your posts simply exhaust me. I read about all that work that you are doing and I feel utterly spent. Overwork by proxy, I'd say. I can't but admire your patience, if that was me, game, computer, desk, etc. would've long been residing in my friendly neighborhood landfill.

G.

It's not patience, it's Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. And I'm on my second laptop in 5 months because I threw the first one under a moving train. 

[Trubble]

I've heard of Spotted Dick, but I can't think of what it is now.

Tesco's sell them here in the UK.  In my house it's known as Spotted Private Parts

Tesco's are evil.