Meaning of Irish phrase?
Nigel Funge
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>
> What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
> whatever that is?
Although I don't understand the complete phrase, trifle is a desert
comprised of a bread-type base (made of ladyfingers by my mom), with a
raspberry jello mixed with raspberries placed on top of that, followed
with custard, and finally a cream top. I hate it, but since my brothers
loved it, was forced to endure it as a child. My mom is from Cavan (on
the border with Northern Ireland) and will ask her about that phrase.
Be seeing you.
Nigel Funge
my dad (who's English) who loves trifle and remembered also that trifle
is English and not of Irish-origin.
Be seeing you.
Judith Eubank
Nate Shubat <na...@hobbes.moneng.mei.com> wrote:
>
>
> "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>
else? Don't really remember. So I assume that she's shaking some kind
of sprinkles on the dessert. In the case of the trifles I've eaten, it
wouldn't help much.
Judith
Steven Botterill
> Well, a trifle is a kind of dessert. Cake, jam, sherry or rum, and what
> else? Don't really remember. So I assume that she's shaking some kind
> of sprinkles on the dessert. In the case of the trifles I've eaten, it
> wouldn't help much.
>
> Judith
>
>
Hundreds-and-thousands are what are called sprinkles
or nonpareils in the US - tiny little colored balls
used as decoration on cakes, desserts, etc.
Trifle comes in various forms: the classic
version has a base of chunks of sponge-cake in jello,
on top of which are layered pieces of fruit, custard, and cream -
lace the whole thing with sherry and chill.
The phrase isn't specifically Irish, by the
way - anyone from the British Isles would
recognize it instantly...
Cyndi Froning
> I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a phrase
> that I don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
> "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
> What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
> whatever that is?
See Agatha Christie's _The Tuesday Club Murders_ for a short mystery heavily
dependent on the use of hundreds-and-thousands on the dessert (or pudding, this
being Britain).
Cyndi Froning
Bill Phillips
ste...@uclink.berkeley.edu "Steven Botterill" writes:
>
> Hundreds-and-thousands are what are called sprinkles
> or nonpareils in the US - tiny little colored balls
> used as decoration on cakes, desserts, etc.
> Trifle comes in various forms: the classic
> version has a base of chunks of sponge-cake in jello,
> on top of which are layered pieces of fruit, custard, and cream -
> lace the whole thing with sherry and chill.
>
> The phrase isn't specifically Irish, by the
> way - anyone from the British Isles would
> recognize it instantly...
>
I think that Steven Botterill has described "trifle", and "hundreds and
thousands", correctly. I am unfamiliar though with the term jello, is it
the same as the UK jelly? If so, it is a perfect description of how my family
make it for our own consumption.
Some people prefer trifle without sherry!!! I think that sherry is the only
thing that makes it at all palatable! We eat it for tea, the snack meal
between 4pm, and 6pm, rather than as a dessert after a main meal (but that
may be just us).
I have to send custard powder in occasional food parcels to an emigre
friend of mine who now lives in Mitchigan. These parcels contain "Roses"
chocolates and custard powder. I understand that the term "custard powder"
may not be universally understood in the States. It is cornflower,
artificially coloured yellow, and artificially flavoured (yum yum).
It is placed in a dish with an equal amount of sugar, boiling hot milk
is poured onto the mixture, and it is stired until it thickens,
It is then poured on top of the trifle and allowed to cool and set.
--
Bill
The opinions expressed in this email are by necessity those of my employer.
I own the Company!
Nate Shubat
Hello,
I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a phrase that I
don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
"Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
whatever that is?
Thanks,
Francis Muir
"Hundreds & Thousands" are english, not irish. They are very small sugar beads
thay come in various colors and which find use in culinary decoration. Trifle
is an English dessert made from cake (spomgs sandwich in particular) soaked in
a liquor laced with Sherry, and topped with whipped cream. Very nice too.
Most English kids introduction to Sherry ...
Fido
Elizabeth Rounsavall
(Trifle with hundreds and thousands translates loosely to "cake with
sprinkles", but classier.)
On 18 Jul 1995 in article <Meaning of Irish phrase?>,
'na...@hobbes.moneng.mei.com (Nate Shubat)' wrote:
>
>Hello,
>I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a phrase
that I
>
>don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
>
>"Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
>hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>
>What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
>whatever that is?
>
>
>Thanks,
>
>
Marilyn Mosher
>Hello,
>I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a phrase that I
>don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
> "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
>whatever that is?
>Thanks,
Hundreds-and-thousands are little candy sprinkles you might shake over a cake.
A trifle is a pretty dessert sometimes served in a glass bowl made with layers
of alcohol-soaked cake, jam or fruit, and whipped cream.
Marilyn
John Jones
>I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a phrase that I
>don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
"Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
>whatever that is?
Hundreds and thousands are a type of confectionery.
A single confection is a spheroid of sugar, about 0.1 mm
diameter, usually coated with a thin layer of some colouring
material. A typical serving, however, consists not of
a single spheroid, but a large number of them -- hence the name.
A trifle is a dessert, usually consisting of sponge cake slabs
sandwiched together with jam and/or whipped cream and possibly
soaked in some liqueur, then immersed in custard and allowed to
cool. Some people consider its appearance improved by a light
shaking of hundreds and thousands, though others prefer grated
chocolate or a larger, silver variety of sugar spheroids.
Bon appetit!
John Jones
Sean Matthews
>
> Hello,
>
> don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following means?
>
> "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
>
> What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
> whatever that is?
>
>
`Hundreds and thousands' are tiny varicoloured pieces of sugar-like something or
other that you scatter on the icing or whipped cream spread on top of cheap
cakes (or trifles) to ensure that nothing is accidently promised by appearance
that isn't delivered. They look a bit like chocolate vermicelli, only made
out of cheap thermoplastic.
They are sufficiently tacky and crassly disgusting that even at the age of 10,
when I was pretty invulnerable to things being tacky and crassly disgusting
I wouldn't touch them.
Sean
--
Sean Matthews <se...@mpi-sb.mpg.de>
Work: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Informatik, phone: +49 681 302 5363
Im Stadtwald, D-66123 Saarbruecken, Germany fax: +49 681 302 5401
Home: Grossherzog-Friedrich Str. 70, Saarbruecken phone: +49 681 64015
URL: http://www.mpi-sb.mpg.de/~sean/
Bruce Tindall
Sean Matthews <se...@mpi-sb.mpg.de> wrote:
>`Hundreds and thousands' are tiny varicoloured pieces of sugar-like something or
>other that you scatter on the icing or whipped cream spread on top of cheap
>cakes (or trifles) to ensure that nothing is accidently promised by appearance
>that isn't delivered. They look a bit like chocolate vermicelli, only made
>out of cheap thermoplastic.
In the U.S. they go by various names including "jimmies" and "sprinkles."
In answer to another message, "Jell-O" is a trademark for a kind
of flavored gelatin(e). It's sold as a powder, and you add water
and (sometimes) sugar, then congeal it in a refrigerator. You can
suspend chunks of fruit in it, or serve it plain.
M Wilson
>
> > "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> > hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
> >
> > What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the trifle,
> > whatever that is?
>
shaken onto trifles, ice-cream etc as a decoration. As for trifle, it
is a traditional Brit-dish constructed like this:-
hundredsandthousands
creamcreamcreamcreamcream
custardcustardcustard
jellyjellyjellyjelly
spongespongesponge
in a large bowl and is most agreeable.
- Martin Wilson.
Roger M Squires
Peter O'Toole says something like "They were making brandy-wine
before the snakes left Ireland." What is the reference to here?
rms
Steven Botterill
>
> Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
> pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
> survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
>
> 'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
> a bit of a surprise.'
"Knock up" is a classic instance, though my impression is that
people don't say that much in Britain any more.
My own worst experience, as an Englishman teaching in the US,
was to inform a class that I was "beavering away" at
an article. They took this to mean that I had an intense
interest in female genitalia, and never treated me in quite the same
way again - even after some kind soul took me aside to
explain.
Jack Carroll
: Your mom puts _okra_ in a trifle?
: Now that is strange.
Nothing containing okra could possible be considered a trifle.
The prize for the world's thinnest book would surely go to _A Thousand
Favorite Receipes with Okra_.
Jack Carroll
Francis Muir
Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured
sugar, as pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab )
what other phrases survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave
'That's a bit of a surprise.'
There is a theory that when Hugh Grant said "Blow me!" to that young charmer
on Hollywood Blvd he meant no more than your Dave above. For those who
wonder, the derivation is from the expression:
"You could have blown me down with a feather duster."
Fido
M.A. Powe
: Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
: pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
: survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
: 'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
: a bit of a surprise.'
Years ago, while backpacking I met up with a young New Zealander, who at
the end of a long day's hike said, "I'm stuffed." -- this being, so she
informed me, NZ slang for tuckered, pooped, knackered.
--
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
do...@teleport.com Michael Powe
"What hath night to do with sleep?" --Milton
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Joy Haftel
>>
>> Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
>> pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
>> survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
>>
>> 'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
>> a bit of a surprise.'
I knew an American girl who went to an English school in Israel and she
said one day her (British) teacher held up a pencil and pointed to the
eraser end before delivering this lecture to a class of 10-year-olds:
"I hear that some of you have been calling this an eraser. This is not
correct. This is a rubber..."
Joy H. Luckabaugh
jkh...@netcom.com
Mike Schilling
: Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
: pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
: survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
In the UK, it's less serious to give a girl a ring after knocking her up.
It's also less fun to bowl a maiden over.
Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604
73, doug
Brian Pickrell
: In article <Pine.SGI.3.91.950718...@heart.engr.csulb.edu>,
: Nigel Funge <fu...@engr.csulb.edu> wrote:
: >Although I don't understand the complete phrase, trifle is a desert
: Your mom puts _okra_ in a trifle?
: Now that is strange.
No, ladyfingers are small firecrackers.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Pickrell
--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Brian Pickrell
Brian Pickrell
: Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
: pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
: survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
: 'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
: a bit of a surprise.'
_Free Willy_ (maybe "blow me" should have been the title of the sequel).
John de Manuel
In a previous article, te_...@kingston.ac.uk (Adrian Preston) says:
>pointed out by most of the British contingent of rab ) what other phrases
>survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
>
>'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
>a bit of a surprise.'
You wicked rabber, you... didn't that make it across the Atlantic
as "Blow me down"? })
--
)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~( Makita kang
( "I prefer to think of the future as ) Sakdal laya!
) something that has not been written in stone." (* \\\ \\// \ \\
(__________________________________________________)# *>-\//-\-\/\\
16b...@waikato.ac.nz
>
> Years ago, while backpacking I met up with a young New Zealander, who at
> the end of a long day's hike said, "I'm stuffed." -- this being, so she
> informed me, NZ slang for tuckered, pooped, knackered.
>
Likely she was on her best behavior too there being a more
universally understood common usage term for the above.
Btw hereabouts we don't hike or backpack; we tramp.
How awfully quaint,
- pleb retort
Jan Yarnot
>Speaking of hundreds and thousands ( small bits of vari-coloured sugar, as
>survive a trans-atlantic crossing equally badly?
>
>'Blow me' immediately springs to mind. As in: 'Blow me' said Dave 'That's
>a bit of a surprise.'
>
'When shall I knock you up?" always got my attention.
ObBook: Just read _Farewell to Fairacre_ by "Miss Read." *sniff*
--
Jan Yarnot, net.granny, RABbabe, Proud Mom to Stands-With-a-Book
the Booklist Boy, the IRS Guy, the Tycoon, and Sunbunny.
Disgruntled baseball fan, on strike. Nifty Fifty (growing older is
jya...@netcom.com || mandatory, growing up is optional.)
Mary Comber
trouble in America, as in "I'm dying for a fag". It works the other way
too as anybody named Randy can probably attest. I saw a whole pub
reduced to tears of laughter by the phrase" Hi, I'm Randy". Australia
isn't safe either, they call sellotape durex. And they love to ask
innocent Irishwomen if they have any at the most awkward times:-)
Michael Burke
>Nate Shubat writes:
> I am reading Meave Binchy's _Circle of Friends_ and came across a
> phrase that I don't recognize. Can anyone tell me what the following
> means?
> "Annabel Hogan needed to go and supervise the shaking of
> hundreds-and-thousands on the trifle."
> What are hundreds-and-thousands & why would they be shaken on the
> trifle, whatever that is?
>"Hundreds & Thousands" are english, not irish. They are very small sugar beads
>thay come in various colors and which find use in culinary decoration. Trifle
>is an English dessert made from cake (spomgs sandwich in particular) soaked in
>a liquor laced with Sherry, and topped with whipped cream. Very nice too.
>Most English kids introduction to Sherry ...
"Hundreds & thousands" are aka "Non-pareils" in many parts of the
world.
_______________________________________________________________
Mike Burke
INTERNET: mbu...@pcug.org.au
FIDONET: 3:620/248.4
Voice: +61-6-2316847
Fax: +61-6-2313050
Francis Muir
"Hundreds & thousands" are aka "Non-pareils" in many parts of the
world.
Indeed. OED2 likes 100s & 1000s:
hundreds and thousands: a name for very small comfits.
1830 [Remembered in use].
1894 G. Egerton Keynotes 137 Little cakes with hundreds and thousands
on top.
1922 G. K. Chesterton in Illustr. London News 12 Aug. 234/1 There
ought not to be anything but a plural for..the sweets called
hundreds and thousands.
1932 A. Christie Thirteen Problems i. 22 `Cooks nearly always put
hundreds and thousands on trifle, dear,' she said. `Those little
pink and white sugar things.'
1953 Dylan Thomas Under Milk Wood (1954) 60 Brandyballs, winegums,
hundreds and thousands, liquorice sweet as sick.
1967 N. Freeling Strike Out 87 Little sugary pellets like hundreds
and thousands.
Fido
John de Manuel
In a previous article, fra...@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Francis Muir) says:
>There is a theory that when Hugh Grant said "Blow me!" to that young charmer
>on Hollywood Blvd he meant no more than your Dave above. For those who
>wonder, the derivation is from the expression:
>
> "You could have blown me down with a feather duster."
Another variant I've heard fairly often is
"You could have knocked me down with a feather."
Steven Botterill
The legend that all the snakes in Ireland were
driven out by St Patrick (5th century AD) as part
of his missionary activities. I.e., it's a way of saying
"a very long time ago". I believe it's the case that there
are indeed no native species of snake in Ireland.
Pat Hanby
> In article <Pine.SGI.3.91.950718...@heart.engr.csulb.edu>,
> Nigel Funge <fu...@engr.csulb.edu> wrote:
> >Although I don't understand the complete phrase, trifle is a desert
> >comprised of a bread-type base (made of ladyfingers by my mom),
>
> Your mom puts _okra_ in a trifle?
> Now that is strange.
Lady fingers in this context are finger - shaped sponge cakes, also known
as boudoir biscuits, not the vegetable okra which is also called ladies
fingers. Definitely no okra in trifles!
>
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Pat Hanby Book Orders Librarian Reading University Library
PO Box 223 Whiteknights READING RG6 6AE UK
vlsh...@reading.ac.uk Tel. 01734 318777 Fax 01734 316636
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
John Camp
>
>Here's another irish question: in the movie _The Lion in Winter_,
>Peter O'Toole says something like "They were making brandy-wine
>before the snakes left Ireland." What is the reference to here?
>
I'm not sure if you're asking about the brandy-wine or the departure
of the snakes, but brandy-wine is simply another name for brandy,
that is, spirits distilled from wine, including grape wine, apple
cider, etc. The departure of the snakes refers, of course, to the
legend of St. Patrick driving the snakes out of Ireland, which the
Catholic Church now says not only didn't happen, but there
wasn't a St. Patrick to do the driving, either -- a declaration which
goes some way toward explaining the Catholic Church's loss of charm.
JC
I should note, in reference to the previous discussion of hundreds
of thousands, the same product is referred to in large parts of the
American Midwest and South as "sprinkles."
Mary Loveless
Has anyone offered the mystic phrase "Keep your pecker up" ?
--
Mary Loveless, Secretary Senior
Department of Psychosocial
and Community Health, 5-0839, 357263
School of Nursing, University of Washington
Edward Hartnett
M> The Irish habit of referring to cigarettes as fags could get one in
M> trouble in America, as in "I'm dying for a fag". It works the other way
M> too as anybody named Randy can probably attest. I saw a whole pub
M> reduced to tears of laughter by the phrase" Hi, I'm Randy". Australia
M> isn't safe either, they call sellotape durex. And they love to ask
M> innocent Irishwomen if they have any at the most awkward times:-)
My brother once caused quite a stir by asking a 16-year-old girl (in
front of her parents) if she wanted a ride later.
Of course he meant to offer her a lift.
--
John de Manuel
In a previous article, jkh...@netcom.com (Joy Haftel) says:
>I knew an American girl who went to an English school in Israel and she
>said one day her (British) teacher held up a pencil and pointed to the
>eraser end before delivering this lecture to a class of 10-year-olds:
>
>"I hear that some of you have been calling this an eraser. This is not
>correct. This is a rubber..."
I studied in a British school in Tel Aviv in the early 70s, and
that's what we called them too... when I first heard "rubber" used as a
euphemism for condoms, I thought that was strange. })
Mike Schilling
: My brother once caused quite a stir by asking a 16-year-old girl (in
: front of her parents) if she wanted a ride later.
:
: Of course he meant to offer her a lift.
: --
Is your brother named Otis? :-)
ha...@atheist.tamu.edu
(ad...@freenet.toronto.on.ca) wrote:
: I studied in a British school in Tel Aviv in the early 70s, and
: euphemism for condoms, I thought that was strange. })
My mother teaches very young children in Tacoma, Washington. To her
intense embarrassment, she was recently pulled aside by one of the
other teachers and told why she probably ought not to tell the
children to "share the rubbers like good girls and boys".
hate
Michael Burke
>How about the meaning of "revise" on either side of the Atlantic?
>73, doug
"momentarily"?
:-)