Americans: why don't you use kettles?

[Johnny Canuck3]

We have a kettle. It's made out of plastic.

But then, we're Canadian.

 

[iona]

There was an American microwaving water in the kitchen this morning and I thought of this thread, but it turned out both the kettles were broken. She was drinking tea too.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

Why do you think Americans haven't taken to drinking squash. .

They can't do everything just like the British do. They have their own things to eat and drink.

What the hell is squash, anyway?

 

[Greebo]

<snip> What the hell is squash, anyway?

A thinner version of a nonalcoholic fruit cordial, generally with less sugar and more chemicals. Popular with children if they're not allowed fizzy drinks or milkshakes.

 

[danny la rouge]

What the hell is squash, anyway?

The family that pumpkins belong to. We don't eat them, we drink them. Like a thin smoothie. But so pumped full of chemicals that they can be kept on the shelf rather than chilled.

 

[19sixtysix]

..both the kettles were broken.

I blame the torys

She was drinking tea too.

Report her to the house committee on un-american activities.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

The family that pumpkins belong to. We don't eat them, we drink them. Like a thin smoothie. But so pumped full of chemicals that they can be kept on the shelf rather than chilled.

This is what I thought. It seems disgusting. And the name: squash. Like a squashed bug; but now it's a drink.

 

[Johnny Canuck3]

A thinner version of a nonalcoholic fruit cordial, generally with less sugar and more chemicals. Popular with children if they're not allowed fizzy drinks or milkshakes.

Now I'm confused.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Danny is correct. It's a hangover from empire, when exotic vegetables such as squashes were transported from the colonies in concentrated liquid form.

 

[Orang Utan]

Squash is just another name for cordial innit

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Squash is just another name for cordial innit

cordial sounds posh, though. 'orange cordial' sounds weird.

 

[Orang Utan]

cordial sounds posh, though. 'orange cordial' sounds weird.

squash sounds posher to me

 

[Greebo]

Squash is just another name for cordial innit

No - cordial is more likely to be highly concentrated, and it usually contains fruit extracts, sugar, water, and something to prevent it fermenting that's all.

Now I'm confused.

First, the juice is extracted, and concentrated for easy carrying and long storage life, but that's far too expensive to just dilute back to the strength it began at, so you (the manufacturer) dilute it with lots of water, which is one of the cheapest bulking agents.

It looks boring (unless it's blackcurrant, which is naturally highly coloured), so you usually add colouring - natural or artificial - as much as you think will be needed to persuade children to drink it.

Of course, it's still sour and quite thin tasting, so a lot of sugar or sweetener is added, often along with malic acid and/or citric acid to make it tangier. Flavourings may also be added.

The bottle of high (50%) juice squash in my hand contains more than a whisper of fruit - the cheapest brands and most widely used in the 1970s contained less than 10% of comminuted fruit. By the time you put that in your glass and dilute it up to 1:10 for drinking, it's hardly more than adjustably sweetened water with a large helping of illusion.

 

[Orang Utan]

No - cordial is more likely to be highly concentrated, and it usually contains fruit extracts, sugar, water, and something to prevent it fermenting that's all.

nope, same thing where i'm from

 

[littlebabyjesus]

squash sounds posher to me

Regional thing, then. tbh I never heard 'cordial' growing up, hence it sounding posh, I guess. 'cordial' suggests something fancy to me.

 

[Orang Utan]

Regional thing, then. tbh I never heard 'cordial' growing up, hence it sounding posh, I guess. 'cordial' suggests something fancy to me.

squash sounds posh to me cos i associate it with tennis

 

[Greebo]

nope, same thing where i'm from

Higher quality squash tends to be very similar to cordial (with a slightly stickier syrup base than squash usually has), and is sometimes labelled as cordial - generally lime or blackcurrant.

Not the same thing though; you probably wouldn't get away with using undiluted squash instead of cordial/syrup in a cocktail.

 

[Belushi]

Cordial sounds posh to me, it was always squash when I was a kid.

Apart from the oddballs who called it 'Juice'.

 

[Greebo]

squash sounds posh to me cos i associate it with tennis

 

[Orang Utan]

Higher quality squash tends to be very similar to cordial (with a slightly stickier syrup base than squash usually has), and is sometimes labelled as cordial - generally lime or blackcurrant.

Not the same thing though; you probably wouldn't get away with using undiluted squash instead of cordial/syrup in a cocktail.

i've just said: THEY ARE THE SAME THING WHERE I'M FROM AND AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.
i don't need your wiki regurgitating to convince me otherwise

 

[Orang Utan]

not that kind of squash! i meant the Robinson's adverts on the telly

 

[Orang Utan]

Let's call it barley water and call the whole thing off

 

[Belushi]

i've just said: THEY ARE THE SAME THING WHERE I'M FROM AND AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED.

Can anyone else from Leeds confirm this?

 

[Greebo]

Let's call it barley water and call the whole thing off

No!

 

[Orang Utan]

Can anyone else from Leeds confirm this?

i don't think it's much to do with region.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordial

 

[dilute micro]

What does squash have to do with kettles? Something is being done wrong.

 

[8den]

I'm not afraid to buck trends and go against the crowd. Unlike some SHEEPLE.

I don't like tea. Cheese then beans (I use cold beans - WHAT OF IT?). Breakfast, dinner, tea, supper. I like coffee creamer, sugar in my coffee, I like instant coffee (some of them, anyway). Cold custard is nicer than warm/hot custard. I pronounce Lieutenant the way it's spelled, which is one of the few things I'm completely in agreement with you right-thinking Americans about when it comes to language (where the fuck is the F supposed to come from?). And it's 'spag bog' not 'spag bol' because that's how my dad used to say it so them's the rules

Pickled onions are horrible though

Jesus fucking wept. You are more wrong than wrong thing that has gone very badly.

 

[Maurice Picarda]

Jesus fucking wept. You are more wrong than wrong thing that has gone very badly.

There's no hope for her, is there?

 

[Greebo]

Jesus fucking wept. You are more wrong than wrong thing that has gone very badly.

Not as wrong as the about-to-be-formed government, though.

 

[Glitter]

Cordial and squash are the same to me too. I would never say squash though.