to not understand why Americans call a main course an entrée?

[flummoxedworried]

Does anyone understand why this happens?

Entree as in French for entered. It means you have entered the meal after your appetizer.

For soft boiled eggs I use shot glasses as egg cups. Kids have no idea and when they are older I hope one day they twig what they are really for.

To the previous poster who asked why Brits say French words with the emphasis on the first syllable - I don't know, but the US way of emphasising the second is no better, I'd think. French doesn't use emphases on particular syllables, does it?

French words of two syllables generally have the accent on the second; Ber-ET, Gen-DARME, Bon-JOUR, Jar-DIN, Che-VAL. But multiple syllable words in French? I've never figured that one out. But English is just as bad in other ways; through, though, bough, rough.

I have to say crackers are hard to source here and kettles are rare. I teach in the US and the kids keep asking me what I mean when I say things- so they are flummoxed by my British expressions such as " Believe you me, you will know about it....." Miss what does that mean? You just do not realise all the Britcentric expressions that you use without thinking about it. They have no idea what you mean when you say I weight 10 stone- they actually thought I was joking when I explained that one.

Our staff room has no kettle and staff looked mystified when I commented on it and yes they microwave drinks...and I am the only one making a hot drink at breaktime.....it still feels wrong even though I go along with it to be a good sport;)

I grew up in the states, so never really even noticed. I was really confused that in the UK people say I was sat or she was Stood We were never taught to speak or write like that.

Just throwing in some more stuff re UK mealtimes

I'm in the south uk- I eat breakfast /lunch (light food) /dinner(hot meal)..

Not only are there regional - also socio economic /class differences...

Also the time at which lunch taken varies... It used to be blue-collar workers (e. G. Factory workers /manual jobs) had lunch at midday (often sandwiches) then would have their 'tea' (hot meal) at 5-6pm.. Their day would start and finish earlier.
Professional workers would break for lunch - 1pm ish onwards. Then have dinner /supper later.. 8pmonwards. Often children would already be in bed, having had their tea earlier with their nanny!
A while back professionals if they were invited to tea- they would expect a high tea (sandwiches /cakes) not the cooked meal that others have..

I adore butter, but it doesn't belong on a sandwich. No way.

I prefer cream cheese.

I have to say crackers are hard to source here

Crackers are hard to find in the US? What do you mean? Ritz, Chicken in a Biscuit (delicious), Triscuit, etc?

I love American biscuits with jelly or gravy. I saw them on Amazon but have not ordered them yet. I really miss hot pockets as well, but you can't find them in the UK.

I have breakfast, lunch and supper (not necessarily eaten very late as some imply)

Dinner is eaten out

High tea is different to afternoon tea I think? I think of high tea as more like a proper meal, afternoon tea is little sandwiches, cake etc

Tea was what we called the evening (at 5pm ish) meal for children

I love the regional variations of meal names in the UK :)

We use dinner and tea interchangeably for the evening meal, which is a hot meal usually eaten between 6 and 7, with children. Afternoon tea is something you go to a hotel for and high tea is one of those expressions where I know what it means but never hear anyone actually use it. Supper is a biscuit before bed but I never actually use the word supper. I have friends who use it to mean evening meal but that seems really weird to me.

High tea and afternoon tea are pretty much the same but afternoon tea can come in casual, smaller forms all the was up to a big fancy one where as I would expect high tea to be a big fancy one.

I always feel that the names of the meals is more to do with the time of day it's eaten rather than what it is...not so for DS (4). He is obsessed with what we call the mealtimes and it drives me up the wall.

He bases it solely on what food is eaten, so if we are having sandwiches or some similar light meal then it is 'tea' no matter whether it's at noon or in the evening and it's 'lunch' if it's hot. I hate those days when we have sandwiches at lunch and a cooked meal in the evening! It's just plain wrong but he won't have it and produces such a mega tantrum (he has SN) that it's not worth trying to correct him (sigh)

English meal nanes are a regional thing. My hubbie is from the North, I am from West Country. I serve him LUNCH at midday day, but he calls it DINNER. In the evening I am eating DINNER, but he calls it TEA. We are having the exact same meal btw!

Enjoying reading this thread! I've always been fascinated with English/American, so similar yet so different!

The only one I can add is actually something that happened in Canada... In a small bagel shop I asked for a salmon and cream cheese bagel (perfectly normal in my usual London bagel cafe, bit of lemon juice and black pepper, yum!) but they looked at me like I was crazy and just didn't understand. I tried to explain a few times. When they brought it over it turned out to be cheese and chive.

Mealtime names do vary a lot. For me it's breakfast, lunch and dinner Monday to Saturday then breakfast, dinner and tea on a Sunday! Dinner is the big meal of the day and lunch and tea are the same type of food (sandwich sort of things) but eaten at different times. Mind you, my DH who grew up about 7 miles from me used to call the midday meal 'dinner' even if it's a sandwich.

OneWildNightWithJBJ that's bizarre! It's not as if salmon is unusual in Canada - of all places! How could they not understand?

It's breakfast, dinner, tea in northern England and that doesn't change even if the mid day meal is hot or cold. Your dinner can be sandwiches, soup, heated up leftovers, McDonalds etc, makes no difference at all. Same for tea - can be hot or cold, light or heavy, depending on preference and whether at home/work so what facilities available etc.

Afternoon tea and high tea are not the same. Afternoon tea is dainty sandwiches, cake, scones and tea. High tea is something hot and stodgy like macaroni cheese on toast or cottage pie, accompanied by toasted teacakes, cake or something else sweet to follow.

Of course, there is probably variation across the US with terminology too. In the UK, even being a tiny island that is probably smaller than many US states, we can't even agree on the name for an individual serving of bread or what to call it when we put chips in it.

Thanks crabb I lived in rural Quebec for a while and some of the locals in the bar used to try and jokingly frighten me with stories of Loup Garou as I lived on my own with my dog, in a little house outside town on the edge of the forest. After a while they decided I must actually be a Loup Garou, so I got the nickname Loup or Loupie . They were lovely people, so amazingly kind, and I've kept in contact with them and still visit as often as I can

unicornlovermother do you not have a cracker aisle in your local Walmart/whatever? We have a huge aisle with every cracker you could dream of. Microwaved drinks, might have to give it a go in the interests of research...

What are mealtimes called in America?

CountryCaterpillar where we are we call them breakfast, lunch, dinner.

Similar to us then!