Dunking

[Marius Hancu]

Hello:

"Dunking pound cake"
any idea what would this mean?

"Hooked" - "hooked on drugs?"
"Kicked" - "kicking the habit?"

-----
(Note: Istanbul has more heroin junkies than NYC. ) The living and the
dead, in sickness or on the nod, hooked or kicked or hooked again, come
in on the junk beam and the Connection is eating Chop Suey on Dolores
Street, Mexico D.F., dunking pound cake in the automat, chased up
Exchange Place by a baying pack of People. ( Note: People is New Orleans
slang for narcotic fuzz. [fuzz-police] )

William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, p. 7
------

Thanks.
Marius Hancu

[Barbara Bailey]

Post by Marius Hancu
"Dunking pound cake"
any idea what would this mean?
"Hooked" - "hooked on drugs?"
"Kicked" - "kicking the habit?"
-----
(Note: Istanbul has more heroin junkies than NYC. ) The living and the
dead, in sickness or on the nod, hooked or kicked or hooked again, come
in on the junk beam and the Connection is eating Chop Suey on Dolores
Street, Mexico D.F., dunking pound cake in the automat, chased up
Exchange Place by a baying pack of People. ( Note: People is New Orleans
slang for narcotic fuzz. [fuzz-police] )

Pound cake is a type of dessert cake that is heavy and dense. And if it is
allowed to get stale (as it would in an automat ( a coin-operated eating
establishment, It strongly resembles a concrete block in hardness. The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk it in
coffee, tea or hot chocolate and let the hot liquid make it soggy.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?

Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

it in
coffee, tea or hot chocolate and let the hot liquid make it soggy.

[Wood Avens]

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

[HVS]

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

On 2008-09-02 21:45:54 +0200, Barbara Bailey

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is
commonplace and universally understood in the US and, even in
these globalized times, almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I
right? How many BrE speakers would have any idea what it meant
if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do
not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be
the only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and
familiar, Shirley?

It's second nature to me[1]but I may know it from my Canadian days.
It would never occur to me not to use it, though; I'd assume
everyone knew the word.

[1] The word, not the action; don't like tea-sodden biccys.

[Alan Jones]

Post by HVS

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

On 2008-09-02 21:45:54 +0200, Barbara Bailey

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is
commonplace and universally understood in the US and, even in
these globalized times, almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I
right? How many BrE speakers would have any idea what it meant
if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do
not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be
the only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and
familiar, Shirley?

It's second nature to me[1]but I may know it from my Canadian days.
It would never occur to me not to use it, though; I'd assume
everyone knew the word.
[1] The word, not the action; don't like tea-sodden biccys.

I know the word but probably wouldn't use it in BrE. Tea-sodden bikkies are
not to my taste either, but I do like the occasional biscotto dipped in a
morning cappuccino at Caffe Nero. Biscotti are much harder than stale pound
cake, though, unless US pound cakes are made to a different recipe from
ours.

Alan Jones

[Amethyst Deceiver]

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

[Wood Avens]

On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:25:09 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

Ah. In that case, I agree.

[Athel Cornish-Bowden]

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:25:09 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

Ah. In that case, I agree.

OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

[Mike M]

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:25:09 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa?  I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

Ah.  In that case, I agree.

OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

Count me in as a happy dunker. Been doing it all my life, and using
the word since at least the early 70s (not sure about before that).

My preference with (say) a plain digestive is to dunk first (VERY
briefly, to avoid over-saturation and - worst case scenario -
breakup), eat the soggy half, then eat the second half dry. Two
different, but complementary, taste sensations.

Peter Kay does a good routine about biscuit dunking.

Mike M

[John Varela]

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

I have no idea what a biccy is, but the usual dunkable in the US is a
doughnut. Evidently the Dunkin' Donuts chain hasn't reached GB.

The chain started in New England in the 1950s. The original dunkin'
donut was a ring donut with a handle on it to keep the fingers out of
the coffee.

[the Omrud]

Post by John Varela

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden
OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

I have no idea what a biccy is, but the usual dunkable in the US is a
doughnut. Evidently the Dunkin' Donuts chain hasn't reached GB.

Childish slang for "biscuit", as in cookie, not the US scone-like thing
you pour gravy on.

We've probably had doughnuts longer than the US has existed, but I don't
remember ever hearing of one being dunked. The name of the chain is
known in some parts of the UK where it may have had a few stores some
years ago, but I'd never thought of it as literal before. I mean, I've
never seen a Robin Basking anywhere near ice cream.

[Donna Richoux]

Post by the Omrud
We've probably had doughnuts longer than the US has existed,

But were they called "doughnuts"? (Or "donuts"?) We've been down that
road several times, but offhand I can't remember if we reached a firm
conclusion. Something lodged in my memory about the Dutch of New York
area making "oliekoeken." The making of "oliebollen" is still a
tradition here, especially at New Year's. Rather lumpy, sodden things,
though.

Post by the Omrud
but I don't
remember ever hearing of one being dunked. The name of the chain is
known in some parts of the UK where it may have had a few stores some
years ago, but I'd never thought of it as literal before. I mean, I've
never seen a Robin Basking anywhere near ice cream.

Baskin-Robbins was started by a guy named Baskin and a guy named
Robbins.

Dunkin' Donuts was started by a guy named Rosenberg. Not Duncan, though
would have been terribly clever.

[R H Draney]

Post by Donna Richoux

Post by the Omrud
but I don't
remember ever hearing of one being dunked. The name of the chain is
known in some parts of the UK where it may have had a few stores some
years ago, but I'd never thought of it as literal before. I mean, I've
never seen a Robin Basking anywhere near ice cream.

Baskin-Robbins was started by a guy named Baskin and a guy named
Robbins.

Smart and Final was founded by a guy named Smart and a guy named Final...Price
Club was founded by a family of guys named Price....

Harman-Ising Studios, creators of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, was founded
by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising....

Post by Donna Richoux
Dunkin' Donuts was started by a guy named Rosenberg. Not Duncan, though
would have been terribly clever.

He was busy making yo-yos....

Getting back to dunking...everyone seems to think it requires hot
beverages...let's not overlook the tradition of dunking an Oreo cookie in a
glass of cold milk....r

[HVS]

Post by R H Draney

Post by Donna Richoux

Post by the Omrud
but I don't
remember ever hearing of one being dunked. The name of the
chain is known in some parts of the UK where it may have had a
few stores some years ago, but I'd never thought of it as
literal before. I mean, I've never seen a Robin Basking
anywhere near ice cream.

Baskin-Robbins was started by a guy named Baskin and a guy
named Robbins.

Smart and Final was founded by a guy named Smart and a guy named
Final...Price Club was founded by a family of guys named
Price....
Harman-Ising Studios, creators of Looney Tunes and Merrie
Melodies, was founded by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising....

Post by Donna Richoux
Dunkin' Donuts was started by a guy named Rosenberg. Not
Duncan, though would have been terribly clever.

He was busy making yo-yos....
Getting back to dunking...everyone seems to think it requires
hot beverages...let's not overlook the tradition of dunking an
Oreo cookie in a glass of cold milk....r

Still makes for soggy bickies[1]. Yuk.

[1] I've decided that "ck" is the best spelling for this word.
feel free to sue me.

[the Omrud]

Post by Donna Richoux

Post by the Omrud
We've probably had doughnuts longer than the US has existed,

But were they called "doughnuts"? (Or "donuts"?) We've been down that
road several times, but offhand I can't remember if we reached a firm
conclusion. Something lodged in my memory about the Dutch of New York
area making "oliekoeken." The making of "oliebollen" is still a
tradition here, especially at New Year's. Rather lumpy, sodden things,
though.

OED has the first use in 1809, which seems terribly late:

1809 W. IRVING Knickerb. (1861) 90 An enormous dish of balls of
sweetened dough, fried in hog's fat, and called doughnuts, or olykoeks.
1847 THOREAU in Atlantic Monthly June (1892) 757 The window was..the
size of an oblong doughnut, and about as opaque. 1861 R. F. BURTON City
of Saints 104 note, The Dough-nut is properly speaking, a small roundish
cake made of flour, eggs, and sugar, moistened with milk and boiled in
lard. 1870 HAZLITT Brand's Pop. Antiq. I. 48 At Baldock, Herts, the
children call..[Shrove Tuesday] Dough-nut Day, from the small cakes
fried in brass skillets over the fire with hog's lard.
</OED>

I was going to comment on the final point in any case - I had a
university friend whose parents were German. They made doughnuts on
Shrove Tuesday where we would make pancakes. Makes sense.

Gutenburg tells me that Washington Irvine also spells it "doughnut" in
"Legend of Sleepy Hollow".

It does seem that the word was unknown before 1800.

[Amethyst Deceiver]

In article <***@mid.individual.net>, ***@yahoo.co.uk
says...

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:25:09 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

Ah. In that case, I agree.

OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

But dunking doesn't have to refer to biscuits. When YoungBloke was tiny
we used to dunk him in the bath.

[LFS]

Post by Amethyst Deceiver
says...

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 15:25:09 +0100, Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Amethyst Deceiver

Post by Wood Avens
On Wed, 3 Sep 2008 13:59:07 +0200, Athel Cornish-Bowden

Post by Athel Cornish-Bowden

[ ... ]
The only
way to eat stale pound cake without risking broken teeth is to dunk

Now there's an interesting example of a word that is commonplace and
universally understood in the US and, even in these globalized times,
almost totally unknown in Britain. Am I right? How many BrE speakers
would have any idea what it meant if they encountered it out of context?
Why do some words cross the Atlantic so easily and others do not?

What, dunk as in dunking one's biccy in one's cuppa? I can't be the
only Brit here who finds "dunk" perfectly normal and familiar,
Shirley?

I thought he was referring to "pound cake". "Dunk" is perfectly normal
here.

Ah. In that case, I agree.

OK. It appears that I'm the only who's heard this often in the US and
never in the UK. I agree with those who find the practice
incomprehensible (like Harvey I wonder why anyone would want a soggy
biccy) , but I was thinking of the word not the practice.

But dunking doesn't have to refer to biscuits. When YoungBloke was tiny
we used to dunk him in the bath.

Not to mention witches. I believe that ducking stools were also known as
dunking stools.

[R H Draney]

Post by LFS

Post by Amethyst Deceiver
But dunking doesn't have to refer to biscuits. When YoungBloke was tiny
we used to dunk him in the bath.

Not to mention witches. I believe that ducking stools were also known as
dunking stools.

Which reminds me of the following:

Dorothy Parker once attended a Halloween party where she noticed a group of
people around a tub of water. She asked what they were doing and was told they
were ducking for apples.

"There, but for a typographical error," she said, "is the story of my life."

....r

[Donna Richoux]

Post by Marius Hancu
"Dunking pound cake"
any idea what would this mean?

"Dunking" is dipping a baked item (usually a doughnut, cookie) into
coffee and then eating it.

Post by Marius Hancu
"Hooked" - "hooked on drugs?"
"Kicked" - "kicking the habit?"

Sure, why not.

Post by Marius Hancu
-----
(Note: Istanbul has more heroin junkies than NYC. ) The living and the
dead, in sickness or on the nod, hooked or kicked or hooked again, come
in on the junk beam and the Connection is eating Chop Suey on Dolores
Street, Mexico D.F., dunking pound cake in the automat, chased up
Exchange Place by a baying pack of People. ( Note: People is New Orleans
slang for narcotic fuzz. [fuzz-police] )
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch, p. 7
------

Best -- Donna Richoux

[Marius Hancu]

Post by Donna Richoux

Post by Marius Hancu
"Dunking pound cake"
any idea what would this mean?

"Dunking" is dipping a baked item (usually a doughnut, cookie) into
coffee and then eating it.

Post by Marius Hancu
"Hooked" - "hooked on drugs?"
"Kicked" - "kicking the habit?"

Sure, why not.

Thank you both.
Marius Hancu