Separated by a Common Language?

[Clodfobble]

The crazy thing is, so much of this stuff is regional even within the US. Just for example:

Originally Posted by monster

My oven is electric, so I went over to the range (cooker) to turn it on to preheat. After checking there was nothing on the cooktop (hob/stove), I set it to 350F (Gas mark 5, something in centigrade). Then I went to wash my hands under the faucet (tap).

I would never say range or cooker, the thing as a whole and the inside part are both the oven, and the top burners are the stove. Also, I would wash my hands "in the sink," I wouldn't refer to the faucet at all.

Originally Posted by monster

(To Americans, a coffee cake is a cake designed to be eaten with coffee -more than likely cinammon or lemon flavo(u)red and drizzled with icing (which is the Brit term -would you merkins call that white drizzle icing, frosting, drizzle or something entirely different?)-

To me, icing is the kind that is 1.) always white, and 2.) made with pure sugar and little else, so when it dries it is somewhat hard and can flake off. Frosting is the fluffy stuff that goes on cupcakes and can't be drizzled. But I would definitely never call any of it "drizzle," as that borders on obscene. And while I wouldn't be taken aback at a cinnamon-flavored coffee cake that didn't actually contain any coffee, I would scoff at a lemon cake being called coffee cake. That's always lemon cake. Also, we call it "food coloring," never just "food color."

But again, this is all just how it is down in Texas. It's totally different up north, as I'm sure you know.