vocabulary test

[pensnest]

A couple of odd little questions regarding American English, any help would be appreciated. I haven't been able to find these on the 'translation' sites I've found.

a) When you use a hand-held mixer, do you call the beaters 'beaters' or something else?
b) Ring-binder - as in, a file with rings onto which the papers are threaded. Called something else? Also, if a person kept a collection of recipes hand-written in a small notebook, would it be reasonable or inexplicable to refer to the book as an 'exercise book'? What would you call it instead? I'm thinking of something with binding at the side, not at the top.
c) Another cooking question: would you say 'fold in the flour'? If not, then what?

(Also, there's a Harry Potter community which offers 'brit-picking', can anyone remind me of its name?)

tia

ETA Thanks, everyone!

Comments

[chrismm.livejournal.com]

(I'm from the MidWest--location can make a huge difference in these things.)

a.) Beaters, yes.
b.) Notebook, or binder, or if you REALLY need people to know what kind, say if you're talking to the purchasing department at work and they're ordering for you, then three-ring-binder.
c.) "Fold in the flour" is fine, though very cookery-oriented. Someone who cooked a lot and read recipes would know that. Someone who doesn't cook a lot and is just tossing together some cookies would probably say "mix in the flour."

[pensnest]

Many thanks! Little things, but I couldn't figure out whether I'd got them right or not.

[withdiamonds.livejournal.com]

a) beaters would work
b) three-ring notebook or three-ring binder. I'm assuming there are three rings? Exercise book would probably be confusing. I'd probably just call it a notebook, myself.
c) folding works.

[pensnest]

Many thanks! Actually, my own recipes live in a two-ring binder, which is more standard for here. Never mind!

[musiclover03.livejournal.com]

a) A hand mixer I believe has beaters.

B) Ring binders--yes that's a correct term for it. As for the notebook with hand written recipies..... maybe just simply a recipe book?

c) You can can say fold in the flour because some recipes do require that. Also you could say mix in the flour.


LOL Hope this helped. :)

[pensnest]

Yes, thank you! It's good to find that sometimes, we don't need to 'translate'.

[musiclover03.livejournal.com]

some things have different names :)

[pensnest]

It's amazing how many things have different names, really. I was just looking in bad_service and someone was talking about buying a 'cornetto'.

In this country, a cornetto is a pre-packaged ice-cream cone, very tasty, but not worth $800!

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

three ring binder is most common, though notebook would work too. Exercise book would just confuse people. Though, if you're talking a recipe stash, there's no common term. Truthfully, it's been more traditional in the States to have a recipe file. A small box that holds 3"x5" index cards - or cards that size with special recipe centric graphics- onto which recipes are written, divided by section [main dishes, cookies, vegetables, etc].

I'd only say 'fold in the flour' if that's specifically what the recipe called for, lol. What is your character making? If they just need to combine the ingredients 'mix' would be more appropriate.

And, there's the end of my over-explanation. lol. Good luck!

[pensnest]

I don't think my character will be so neatly organised as to have a box of index cards - more a scrawled collection of papers! But 'fold' will work for this recipe as a technical term. Thanks!

[msktrnanny.livejournal.com]

ahahah! They come that way! You buy the box and inside is the pre-labeled dividers! All you do is insert the recipes. lol.

Does your query about HP britpicking mean you're now writing HP fic?

[pensnest]

Hmm... I think I'll stick with the binder, though.

No, not writing HP fic (can't be bothered to mug up on the canon), it was just that I was trying to think where to find the above information, and remembered there was a community for the reverse, and couldn't think of its name, and was frustrated!

[carta.livejournal.com]

a) yeah, beaters.

b) three-ring binder, usually. I've heard loose-leaf folder, but that's just weird. :D The other thing would probably be just a notebook, but if it's for recipies, we tend to keep those on cards.

c) Stir! Unless the recipie says to "fold in", but otherwise, mix or stir. Folding is kind of a specific cooking term, isn't it?

[pensnest]

I'm glad that the folding is also a specific cooking term for you folks. Thanks!

[topaz119.livejournal.com]

A notebook-type thing with binding (not spiral-bound) on the side is sometimes called a composition book.

We do say "fold in" ingredients, but that's specifically for that method of cut-down-the-center-of-the-bowl-and-swoop-up-one-side-back-toward-the-center of mixing. Otherwise, if you just wanted to get the flour into the batter, it would be stir or mix, or if you're using electric mixers, beat or blend.

[pensnest]

That's cool - and you've just reminded me, he'll have to wipe the mix off the beaters before the folding-in stage. Anyway, thank you!

[turloughishere.livejournal.com]

I'm not American so I have no useful advice on the actual questions but I do know the name of the HP britpricking comm :-) It's hp_britglish

[pensnest]

Ah - thanks for that. I was looking for it earlier in case there were any 'translations' I could use, but it's quite fun to browse once in a while.

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Hmkay, you look pretty covered in the previous comments, lol.

It is known as a "three-ring binder" here specifically because the two-ring version DOES exist, or at least did in the distant past. That's why loose leaf paper used to have five holes in it, spaced for both versions. These days everything comes in three, and just saying "binder" means three-ring binder, because that's all that is produced anymore. "Exercise book" is COMPLETELY inexplicable; the only logic I can fathom would be that such a thing would be used for "writing exercises" and such from school. Americans hate homework, even if the educational system loves it, so we'd never consciously have such a thing. This is one of those things that probably has different names in various areas, but basically it's just a notebook, specifically a "small notebook", since it's less than the standard 10.5x8 inch paper. It could be a "diary" or "journal" that happens to be being used for recipes, as diaries/journals are generally smallish.

And yeah, fold is a specific term that ALMOST everyone has heard, but most people who have not done actual cooking might not get correct if asked to describe it.

Wheeeeee, English. SO Fucked Up, and the most common language on the planet. Go figure. *g*

[pensnest]

Yep, an 'exercise book' is a notebook with a thinnish card cover, and our school kids get (usually) several, one for each subject. Maths ones commonly have squared paper, most subject have lined paper. Once they get into the sixth form, though, they generally use A4 pads + ring-binders, although here, the folders mostly have two rings, not three.

It's constantly amazing how many little differences there are between our cultures, and the small things always give you away, don't they!

BTW, while I think of it, have you had a chance to look over that Bassenbaum fic? If you're swamped, don't worry, I can easily ask someone else.

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Oh geeze, you know what, I haven't as yet.

I'm afraid I =AM= swamped at the moment, since GenCon is next week and I've still got eighty-berskillion things to do to get ready for that. I'm still totally willing to go over it (hey, you wrote it for my prompt and everything!) but I'm afraid I won't have a chance until after the 20th- -at the earliest.

Sorry, Pen, I *really* meant to have that done by now, but we all know how well intentions work out...

[pensnest]

No worries - there is no desperate hurry at present. I do want to put the new, improved version of the story onto my website, but I am still gibbering over the Dreamweaver manual at present and haven't done anything constructive yet.

If you'd rather I passed it along to someone else, though, just say.

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Oh, NO, not at all; I'd still LOVE to do it... ..as long as my timetable (*snort*) works for you...

[pensnest]

Cool - I'm happy to wait until you have a bit more time. :-)

[ninjetti75.livejournal.com]

Excellent!

Thank You, and Thanks Again for writing it in the first place!!! *g*