Dessert, sweet, pudding or afters? Which do you say and where are you from?

[WildFlowerBees]

We've always said pudding, Lancashire born. Having this conversation with someone who says sweet. Haven't heard it called that in years!

Pudding sometimes dessert.

Afters is surely only said as a Carry On style innuendo, "ooh you should see what's for afters" 😜😳🤭

Pudding. South London.

Pudding. North West.

Same.

My dp is from Yorkshire. We've been together a long time so don't have linguistic misunderstandings any more. But I remember ages ago we were clothes shopping and he held something and said "Have I to try it on?" I took mild offence and said "Well, not if you don't want to-but it was your idea to come shopping!" He just meant "Shall I try it on?"

Pudding. Manchester

Pudding, westcountry.

Pudding, afters or dessert. Never sweet. South East england

Because it’s a word used by people that are trying to sound “posh”, like settee and serviette.

I feel the same about people who are “mortified” when their pet hamster dies or claim that “to all intensive purposes” they are a qualified person

not “dirty” just wrong.

Dessert. London.

I don't think pudding is posh nowadays, it's a pretty standard word most people would use.

I would say afters, or pudding if I was in polite company (Yorkshire originally). DS has picked up “dessert” from school - to me it sounds like a restaurant menu.

Sweet is very 1970s Hyacinth Bucket IMO 🤣

Dessert. South Wales.

It was afters whilst in school but never used it beyond that.

What are plates made of? Pottery. QED.

Those examples are not comparable, not even close.

Dessert. Ireland

I think the "in some settings " part is important and something that people overlook.

The terms people use vary with location and, especially outside the UK, they're not necessarily a class indicator . Mostly, MN posters are UK based, but even on this thread we have America, Australia, Ireland and more represented. I have seen people judged for using terms like 'gotten' and now 'dessert', when I know them to be the default in America and Ireland. Nobody is trying too hard to be posh (or not) or pretending to be someone they're not. It is simply normal usage there and doesn't indicate anything at all.

I think people on here sometimes tend to act as if all posters were living within a 10 mile radius of them. Some are not very accepting of variation in language. At the very least that can cause confusion! For example, the word shall is very rarely used where I am @CurlewKate😊

Pudding
Afters makes me cringe so much
Dessert fine in restaurant
Sweet I'd forgotten but my dear old Dad used to say this

Depends what we're eating:
Dessert if it is sweet and light (i.e. mousse, jelly, souffle, trifle)
Pudding if it is heavy and baked (i.e. spotted dick / rice pudding)
Sweet if it is fruit

I have no idea why, though - that's just what I was taught. That, and "pudding" is only ever eaten with a spoon, so if you're using a fork (as you would with fruit) then it isn't pudding. Again, I have no idea why this is - it's just what was drummed into me as a child, and I have thoughlessly continued! I'm from Zimbabwe.

Brilliant! Love this.

I didn't grow up in the UK so often get these small distinctions wrong, and am willing to be corrected! But I thought "serviette" was "common" (for want of a better descriptor) and "napkin" was the preferred posh term?

Yes, pp is putting dessert in the same category as serviette@Zimunya.
Saying it's used by people who are trying too hard to sound posh/genteel (but are outing themselves as common).
The UK is a strange place!!

There are some words that are entirely regional. Some that are entirely class indicators. And some that can be both. Pudding can be both. Obviously in most scenarios it doesn't matter-who would want to be friends with anyone who cared about stuff like that. But there are some situations where it does matter-and can be the difference between getting the job, the pupillage, the promotion....Obviously, thank the Lord, happening less and less. But it's still there. It's shit, but it's still there.

Incidentally, serviette and settee are definitely in the dessert camp!

Dessert - Ireland

Because it’s a word used by people that are trying to sound “posh”, like settee and serviette.

Maybe some people do this, but it's certainly not always the case.

As I said upthread it depends where you live. Dessert is normal usage in many places.
Eveybody says it where I am (Ireland) and nobody is doing it in an effort to sound posh.

When people post on here we usually don't know where they're from. So it's not fair to judge their language by the standard usage of your own region. Standards differ depending on where you are and, to an extent, this is true even within the UK.