which gave me happy flashes to dirty, snarky, tattooed George Clooney.
Mmm, Clooney. Though From Dusk Till Dawn gave me paranoid fantasies that someone had spiked my drink, since the sudden genre shift from criminal caper movie to 'we're stuck in Mexico with a bunch of vampires' occured while I was watching it at two in the morning in an empty house.
And I'm studiously avoiding the spoily talk..... It's so hard staying spoiler-free, knowing that all my questions could be answered in an hour or so of gluttonous reading.
Oh, and such answers...Mmmm, spoilers. They don't make crack this good.
t /taunt taunt taunty taunt
Thanks for the explanation of "bugger that for a game of soldiers," an expression I also love. Now here's a question that's been bugging me for some time...
What the freaking hell is "spotted dick"?! And what could possibly possess people to bestow that name upon a foodstuff?
And what could possibly possess people to bestow that name upon a foodstuff?
I think it's called being English.
t /runs away
Oh, and such answers...Mmmm, spoilers. They don't make crack this good.
I'm torn between weeping and salivating.
Mmm, Clooney.
No contest here. *salivates*
What the freaking hell is "spotted dick"?! And what could possibly possess people to bestow that name upon a foodstuff?
I think it's some kind of pudding. Beyond that, I cannot help you.
I cannot illuminate spotted dick. However, I did have a grandfather who was named "Collins Canyon" but who went by "Dick". We have no idea why he chose that name, out of all the names in the world. Particularly since "Colin" would be less of a leap and "Canyon" would be so much more amusing.
Kate, try:
[link]
NPR had a hilarious piece on some "Save the Spotted Dick" campaign in Britain a couple of years ago. There were other endangered puddings, but spotted dick was the most endangered because of its embarassing name.
ooh, there's a photo here: [link]
It lookes a bit icky. And I mean, suet?
spotted dick pic
The article is about replacing spotted richard with spotted dick.
and from straight dope,
Dear Straight Dope:
Can you shed any light on the etymology of "Spotted Dick"? It's a British concoction, a steamed, log-shaped suet pudding studded with currants, hence the "spotted." But why the "dick"?
The first explanation that leaps to mind seems highly unlikely, but I haven't been able to find a detailed and credible account of how this venerable dessert really did get its name. The best I found in over 40 pages of Google results was someone who thinks he read somewhere that the words "dick," "dog" and "duff" when applied to puddings were all derivatives of the word "dough." OK, "duff" and "dog" seem pretty plausible linguistic mutations, but even allowing for strange regional British accents, "dick" seems a little bit of a stretch. My British parents are also at a loss to explain. --Jayne
eta, total xpost.
Snap, flea
Wow, we were damned impressive, moonlit. But maybe you've actually tasted it - what's it like?
I've had spotted dick, and its close cousin, plum duff. For some reason, if you make them over an open fire at camp, when you've been out in the open for a week or more, they taste *great*. At home, NSM.
Perhaps there's something to do with hunger driving you to it. I mean, people do all kinds of crazy things when they're hungry, right?
Aha! The Pudding Club is what the NPR piece was on about. See:
[link] for pictures of weird-looking desserts with funny names.
