International English Trivia Quiz

Answer: In England they call it coriander

So much of England's cuisine comes from its immigrant communities. Among these are the meals that originated with Birmingham's chefs with Kashmiri or Pakistani heritage which they called baltis after the special cooking pot used to produce them. The Balti Triangle in Birmingham was a top destination for culinary tourists for many years. However, if you are from Canada or the US and hate the soapy cilantro taste you need to look out for coriander on the menus, because that's what it's known as in England.

(Question by Upstart3)

Answer: "The food from that truck was disgusting, do you have a piece of chewing gum to clear the taste?"

I really looked forward to writing a question on the Mancunian slang I grew up with, to do a deep dive into the etymology of it all. Surprisingly, I found that "chuddy" was also used in parts of Australia and New Zealand to describe chewing gum too. Academic literature shows that "chutty" was used as early as the 1940s and "chuddy" had been used since at least the 1960s and comes from the obsolete English dialect word "chud", meaning to chew, likely a portmanteau of "chew the cud". And none of you have any idea of the confusion in Manchester when we lined up to see "C.H.U.D." back in 1984!

Unfortunately, the exact origins of "scran", meaning food, are not entirely clear and "angin'" is a colloquial shortening of "hanging", which means disgusting and likely comes from the word hangover. Mancunian people would say they "feel hanging" after a night of excess drinking and merriment.

(Question from runaway_drive)

Answer: The traffic light is changing

In South Africa, "robot" is the local slang term used for a traffic light. When she says the robot is "turning," she means the light is changing color. She is warning you to prepare to stop.

The term developed in the late 1920s and 1930s when automated systems replaced the human traffic police officers who used to stand in the middle of busy streets directing cars by hand. The locals began referring to the machines as "robotic traffic controllers" because a mechanical device had taken over a human job. This phrase was eventually shortened to just "robot".

(Question from misdiaslocos)

Answer: Peanuts

In Zambia, peanuts, also called groundnuts, are a staple ingredient in local cuisine and are frequently pounded into a fine, raw powder used to flavor and thicken traditional porridges, relishes, and vegetable stews. The local slang "gun powder" is a nickname for peanuts, crushed or roasted, not a dangerous military explosive.

Street vendors across the country sell the powdered snack in small plastic packets, and locals love to shake it directly into their mouths or sprinkle it over their food for a quick burst of energy. The nickname possibly caught on because the fine, dusty texture of the crushed nuts looks somewhat like gunpowder.

(Question from misdiaslocos)

Answer: I'll get back to you

In most English usage something or somebody that reverts, returns to a previous state. Originating in Indian English, the alternate use of the work "revert" to mean "reply" or "respond" has become increasingly prevalent.

(Question from Upstart3)

Answer: Australia

Australia has a rich and evolving use of the English language. Some of these expressions for vomiting were popularized by Barry Humphries in his comic strip and movie creation Barry McKenzie.

(Question by Upstart3)

Answer: Traffic cones

An Australian name for a traffic cone is a witch's hat. They point out that a traffic cone is not a true cone because it has a square base to provide stability, making it look like a pointed hat worn by witches. Australian students are known to follow a longstanding noble tradition (after drinking) of purloining witches' hats and maybe putting them onto the heads of public statues.

(Question from Upstart3)

Answer: He wants to go to a buffet

Viking is an English loanword used across Japan to describe an all-you-can-eat restaurant buffet. It dates back to 1958 when the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo opened the country's very first Scandinavian-style smörgåsbord restaurant. Because the word "smörgåsbord" was considered too difficult for the Japanese public to pronounce, the hotel management held a contest and chose "Viking", partially inspired by the rugged, foreign spirit of Scandinavia, but heavily influenced by the rowdy, massive feasting scenes in the popular Kirk Douglas movie "The Vikings" playing in a nearby theater at the time.

(Question from misdiaslocos)

Answer: A drinking fountain

The term "bubbler" is a regional slang word used almost exclusively by people from Wisconsin, as well as parts of Rhode Island and Australia(!?!). A popular urban legend says that the name originally comes from a specific water fountain made by the Kohler Water Works company in Wisconsin back in 1888, which featured a valve that shot water straight up in a bubbling stream. UNTRUE, even according to Kohler itself. "The Sheboygan Press" had a great article on this and claims to have found local references to "bubblers" going back to pre-water fountain times as references to what I would call a water cooler. But the real answer is...no one knows.
But, because you are heading toward Green Bay, Wisconsin, any Packers fan could have pointed him in the right direction whereas most of the people in the rest of the United States only know water fountain or a drinking fountain.

(Question from misdiaslocos)

Answer: How are you doing?

This greeting is a staple of most dialects across Newfoundland, Canada, known by locals as "The Rock". The phrase originates from old maritime culture. Because a ship's speed is measured in "knots", the question is a literal way of asking "At what speed is your life moving today?". It is a standard way to ask someone how they are doing, and locals often reply with a speed-such as "I'm at nine knots" if they are feeling great, or "Barely a knot" if they are feeling tired.

Oh and "Is dat yer intended from away, b'y?" means - "Is that your fiancee who is not from Newfoundland?" Newfies call anything off The Rock "away" - especially other parts of Canada.

(Question from misdiaslocos)