English questions

[bradrn]

Where, exactly, is the line between batter and dough? I used to think it's simply, "If it's for cake, it's batter, and if it's for bread, it's dough". But now I've got the impression that there are some cakes whose starting goo is called "dough" and not "batter", too.

I’d say batter is liquid, and dough is mostly solid.

Then how do I know if a specific type of cake is made from batter or dough, if I've never baked it in my life, and haven't watched anyone else bake it, either?

To a first approximation, cakes have batter. It might be that the recipe for your specific cake calls it ‘dough’, or someone tells you it has ‘dough’, but if I’m not a cook and I don’t have a clue what the recipe will produce, I’d call it ‘batter’.

[linguistcat]

Then how do I know if a specific type of cake is made from batter or dough, if I've never baked it in my life, and haven't watched anyone else bake it, either?

As bradrn said, I'd say a good 90%+ of the time, cake is batter. Waffles, pancakes and crepes are also batter. Most breads, even the somewhat gloopy ones, are dough.

[Raphael]

Thank you!

[Linguoboy]

Where, exactly, is the line between batter and dough? I used to think it's simply, "If it's for cake, it's batter, and if it's for bread, it's dough". But now I've got the impression that there are some cakes whose starting goo is called "dough" and not "batter", too.

I’d say batter is liquid, and dough is mostly solid.

Then how do I know if a specific type of cake is made from batter or dough, if I've never baked it in my life, and haven't watched anyone else bake it, either?

If you can knead it, it's dough. If you can't, it's batter.

[Moose-tache]

That's a good rule, but I don't think it helps Raphael with his problem. When looking at a cake and talking about it, should you say it comes from dough or batter?

I think the default type of cake people are most familiar with is nearly always made from batter, rather than dough. Even "cookie dough cake," upon closer inspection, is made from batter. So I would just assume all cakes are made from batter unless proven otherwise.

[Raphael]

Thank you, too!

[Travis B.]

I am with Linguoboy here - being batter versus dough to me depends on kneadability.

[Raphael]

Do people in Britain still use that homophobic slur as a slang term for "cigarette", or has that died out by now?

[Darren]

Do people in Britain still use that homophobic slur as a slang term for "cigarette", or has that died out by now?

I know some older people who do here in Australia.

[hwhatting]

I'm quite sure I've seen it used in books and magazine articles from this decade. Also the fixed phrase at / near the fag end of X (see some recent examples from the Economist). And here are recent examples for the phrase from the Grauniad, so it still seems possible to use it in liberal newspapers.

[Raphael]

Interesting. Thank you!

[anteallach]

Do people in Britain still use that homophobic slur as a slang term for "cigarette", or has that died out by now?

Yes. In my experience it is the commonest meaning of the word.

[Raphael]

Thank you!

******

Unrelated: in electoral processes where there might be several rounds of balloting, do you say that the eventual winner won on the fourth ballot or in the fourth ballot?

[Rounin Ryuuji]

I would definitely say "on" the fourth ballot, but "in" the fourth round.

[Raphael]

I would definitely say "on" the fourth ballot, but "in" the fourth round.

Thank you!

[Raphael]

How far has the use of baseball metaphors spread to those parts of the English-speaking world where baseball is not much of a thing? I've been wondering about that ever since, after last year's election in Northern Ireland of all places, Alliance Party leader Naomi Long commented on her party's unusually good result by saying something like (quoting from memory) "I think it's fair to say that we hit it out of the park".

[bradrn]

… Alliance Party leader Naomi Long commented on her party's unusually good result by saying something like (quoting from memory) "I think it's fair to say that we hit it out of the park".

Wow, I never even realised that had anything to do with baseball at all!

[linguistcat]

… Alliance Party leader Naomi Long commented on her party's unusually good result by saying something like (quoting from memory) "I think it's fair to say that we hit it out of the park".

Wow, I never even realised that had anything to do with baseball at all!

I'm not a big fan of baseball, but yeah. It came from times when a batter would hit the ball so hard, it literally went outside the area of play and therefore could not be caught. This would allow any runners on the field to run all the bases freely and score points.

[bradrn]

… Alliance Party leader Naomi Long commented on her party's unusually good result by saying something like (quoting from memory) "I think it's fair to say that we hit it out of the park".

Wow, I never even realised that had anything to do with baseball at all!

I'm not a big fan of baseball, but yeah. It came from times when a batter would hit the ball so hard, it literally went outside the area of play and therefore could not be caught. This would allow any runners on the field to run all the bases freely and score points.

Yeah, I mean, once I thought about it for a second it was obvious…

[Raphael]

What is the food that people from the USA mean when they talk about "chile"? I tried to do simply web searches for that, but when I searched for "chile", I just got all kinds of interesting information on the nation of Chile, and when I searched for "chile food", I just got all kinds of interesting information on what people in the nation of Chile eat. Sometimes, on social media, I've seen posts by people from the USA talking about what a great chile they had that day, and I keep wondering what they meant.