Another Britpick Question

[amberfocus]

Okay, I need the British word for what we call a napkin.  I know what you call a napkin is what we call a diaper.  What we call a napkin is like a specially folded paper towel they give out in restaurants that don't have linens.  In Canada it's called a serviette.  Same for you or is there another term?  Thank you.

Comments

[lostwolfchats.livejournal.com]

Napkin is fine! Or serviette. Serviette is better. What you call diaper, we call a nappy, not a napkin!

[mitashade.livejournal.com]

And we in Canada only call them serviettes if we're very French, lol. (I only do it occasionally when I'm in the company of my family and therefore speaking French.)

[solarflar3.livejournal.com]

Serviette it is.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Great, thanks.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

I dunno, maybe it's regional? We go up to B.C. all the time and it's very common in both Victoria and Vancouver to call them serviettes. And all the Canadian customers that passed through the restaurant where I worked in college always asked for serviettes (and vinegar instead of ketchup).

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[mitashade.livejournal.com]

That's odd. I'm gonna be snooty and call them pretentious then. XD I wonder half the time if the English speaking world even realizes how many French words they use on a daily basis.

Oh, so vinegar isn't a common thing for you guys? I don't go for it myself (not a lot, anyway), but it's pretty huge here. Not as huge as poutine, though. Ahhh poutine... a uniquely French-Canadian tradition. In case you don't know... it's fries with cheese curds with gravy on top: practically a food group among us Frenchies. :P (Again, not something I'm into, but I occasionally get a craving.) I'm pretty sure the Quebec settlers invented it, lol. No one I know who's not Canadian has ever heard of it.

Where did this comment start? Oh yeah... so you guys don't do vinegar on fries or something?

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Fries with ketchup is the American way, more or less, though vinegar was not unheard of. Vinegar was not commonly asked for enough by the American clientele that we ever had it out. We had to go to the back room for it. Oil and vinegar is pretty common as a salad dressing, but we had vinegrette in packets, so just plain vinegar for fries was only kept on hand for the Canadians. Actually, come to think of it, a lot of the time it's more common to see gravy and fries on a menu then fries with vinegar when we go up. I don't know.

Yes, I know what poutine is, though I don't think I could touch it with a ten foot pole. I like fries and gravy well enough but I can't stand cheese curds. My cousin served it when she came down from Alberta and made dinner one night and...no. Just no.

As for serviette, I think sometimes they liked to ask for one just to confuse the poor American serving staff. *grins* It was pretty common though. But a lot of the BC'ers that came through were heavily bilingual so maybe that was it. And yes, I think our language is 1/4 French words.

[mitashade.livejournal.com]

LOL the thought of an American resting keeping Vinegar in the back 'for the Canadians' is highly amusing to me as an image. XD

And yeah, most of the time, I wouldn't touch poutine with a ten foot pole either... but other times, it looks yummy. I've never actually enjoyed it on the few occasions I've had one, though.

Hehehe. Yeah when I'm in the states with family or friends, I like speaking French to confuse/impress the Americans who think speaking another language is the most impressive thing a person could do. (Not everyone, but every once in a while you catch someone. Hehe.)

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

Well, we're a border county. Half the revenue (at least) of most of the service industry came from Canada, so it made sense to cater to them some.

[mitashade.livejournal.com]

Ah yeah. Good point... forgot you were that close.

[angelab85.livejournal.com]

Well I used to live in Maryland and had many friends from the UK and Ireland because I played gaelic football and camogie. They all used napkin.

All the pubs in the DC area seem to have vinegar on the tables or at least ask about it if you order fish and chips. The pub here in NC asks about vinegar also. Perhaps in the US the vinegar issue is more regional? The east coast and the more eastern southern states seem to have more UK and Ireland influences in their food culture. I never remember being asked in Alabama or Louisiana as a young adult.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't surprise me if it were regional. The U.S. is so darn huge and our food choices on the East Coast tend to be influenced far more by Asian, Italian, and Mexican cusines than European ones. Or they are in my area. D.C. is a bit of a world hub with it's politics so I imagine a lot of the things they have there in regards to food are more heavily influenced by English and European food choices. I know whenever I travelled in the South I was more likely to be offered hot sauce or steak sauce than vinegar or ketchup.

[ladymcclellan.livejournal.com]

If you're looking for a quick Brit-pick reference believe it or not Rick Steve's website has a 3 page list of item names and slang. (I hate to plug anything from him, but it really is a good list.)

When I went to the UK last fall I never heard napkins referred to as anything but napkins.

[amberfocus.livejournal.com]

I've got a few lists that I use as resources, but I just really prefer asking the people on my f-list who are British and living in the thick of it and using these things on a day to day basis. You would be surprised on the different answers I get from some of those lists and they can be far more interesting and open up great lines of conversation. But thanks!