Hi Dark, Well, as for Candy Canes they are basically long sticks of peppermint candy made into the shape of a walking cane or a capital J if you prefer. As I understand it the guy who originally created this sweet was a Christian and he wanted to make a Christmas Candy for children that reminded them of the meaning of Christmas. So he took peppermint candy molded it into the shape of a capital J and added white and red stripes. The white stood for purity and the red stripes stood for the blood of Jesus. Initially they didn't take off in America, but some candy company decided to buy the idea and renamed them Candy Canes. that's why every Christmas Santa Claus hands them out to children although the religious intent or meaning of the candy has long been lost on most Americans. They just associate Candy Canes with Santa. :D
The lack of cocoa is exactly what I meant about British chocolate sounding awful. Most American chocolates have a high amount of cocoa in them. A lot of them are based more or less on Swiss chocolates and like pretty much everything else when people from Europe immigrated to the U.S. they brought their recipes and favorite foods with them. Certain groups such as the Amish actually still make cheese, chocolates, and other foods just like they did a hundred years ago which preserves the flavor and taste. Its for that reason I love to buy chocolates from the Amish because they tend to be richer and have a higher cocoa content then the name brand chocolates. Anyway, if you wish to discuss anything regarding social differences etc we definitely should take it off list. This is drifting way off topic, and as much as I'd love a public debate on this Auddyssey just isn't that kind of forum. Cheers! On 9/7/12, dark <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Tom. > > interesting, I actually didn't know in America "use the toilet" would be > considdered a vulgar expression. There are of course less polite ways of > referring to the toilet, such as the bog, the crapper, the shithole, or in > scotland the cludgy, but there is nothing at all wrong with "toilet" at all, > > and if you did! refer to it as say the lady's or the gents (short for > gentlemen's sinse the term mens room never existed here either), most people > > would assume you were being overly dainty or trying to be specifically upper > > class. > > Interestingly enough though, even in the British editions of harry potter, > Jk rowling still occasionally refers to "the bathroom" though she also uses > > loo or toilet as well. I'm not sure if this was either a picked up > Americanism on her part, or because like a lot of large institutions she > imagined hogwarts having combined toilet and bathroom facilities, though she > > never mentions there being a bath in moaning murtle's toilet or there being > > a toilet in the prefect's bathroom so on this I'm not sure. > > As to the hole subject of sweets, I've seen! candy canes in American > programs, but what they taste like or are composed of I have no idea. > > I suspect we do have soemthing similar to the sour patches you mention, > sinse we do have a lot of what we'd call jellies, such as wine gums, harribo > > etc, some of which can be pretty sour and chewy, though they wouldn't really > > be distinguished with a universal name like sour patches. > > Chocolate I can give you a hole discourse on sinse like coffee it's > something I''m a little serious about. I have no idea what Us chocolate is > like at all or what the differences are precisely, but I do know a lot of Uk > > chocolate has far too little coco, --- especially those manufactured mars, > neslay, which is precisely why I myself only tend to buy chocolate that has > > a whacking great coco percentage and is usually german or swiss and bought > from specialist shops. > > I do know a lot of things in the Us contain a lot more corn syrup, including > > things like bread and tomatoe ketchup, which thus makes them often taste > quite sweet to people who are used to the British versions, ---- indeed a > friend of mine who frequently goes to the states for his job says this > drives him absolutely up the wall, buying a savory sandwich and finding it > tastes to him like it's been made with slices of cake rather than bread. > > As to religion, well over here fundamentalism is much more the exception > than the rule and you would be thought of as rather nuts if you had such > beliefs, and probably avoided. > > When I was attending church each week, the idea of the vicar shouting at the > > congrigation, going on a wrant about hell and demons or anything like that > would be quite unthinkable, indeed outside of bible readings I only ever > remember "hell" being mentioned as separation from god, or as a state of > mind, and demons never mentioned at all. > > likewise, the idea of someone actually condemning! others in a religious > service, ---- though it might happen with some fundamentalist fringe groups > > would be very much frowned upon over here. > > i think the statement about people not talking about religion is slightly > incorrect, or may be on the part of bias from the author, though then again > > as a philosophy student I tend to find I get into discussions with people > about religion anyway. I will say though that it's far less likely in such > discussions to run into someone who won't be to a degree accepting, though > of course it does happen. > > Just as in many parts of the world the British are thought of as up tite, > obsessed with tradition and incapable of showing emotion, over here a common > > sterriotype about americans is that Americans are loud, over emotional and > do things to excess. > > of course, this is a sterriotype and so not true of any individual american, > > but just like some other sterriotypical beliefs about nations, for instance > > that germans are very good at organizing or that Japanese are very polite, > there may be a grane of truth in such beliefs as they apply to the over all > > spirit of a culture, just as it is true that displays of emotion, or indeed > > affection are still slightly discouraged in Britain, indeed when I studdied > > sartre's theory of emotions which stated that inner states of emotions were > > entirely characterized and subordinated to the outward actions of the body, > > and of society's interactions with the body, the lecturer noted that Sartre > > was of course french, where emotions were much more physically expressed, > and the idea of someone say feeling intensive joy or disgust but not > reacting physically would not be one that would occur to Sartre. > > Before however this gets too far into a social and existential analysis I'd > > better stop as that deffinately! goes beyond the bounds of what should be on > > the list, indeed perhaps we should discuss this privately off list. > > Beware the Grue! > > Dark. --- Gamers mailing list __ [email protected] If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [email protected]. 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