There are a few "Britishisms" that I'm curious about.

"Trotters" for legs? or feet?

and

"On the trot" means????

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Originally posted by Caterwauller:
There are a few "Britishisms" that I'm curious about.

"Trotters" for legs? or feet?

Trotters refers to pigs' feet. It may originate from the way pigs move.

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"On the trot" means????

In succession. If a pop group has "three hits on the trot", it means they have three successive hits.

Pig's trotters are, I think, pig's feet used as an article of food. And no, I've never heard of anyone actually eating them.

"On the trot" = "in a row", as in to do something three times on the trot.

Not to be confused with "the trots", which can be either (1) the Socialist Workers Party (the capital-T Trots), or (2) a medical condition often caused by particularly active curries and which requires spending large amounts of time in a small dark room trying to be rid of the said curry.

Edited: Oh phooey, Dianthus has jumped in ahead of me.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aput,

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Edited: Oh phooey, Dianthus has jumped in ahead of me.

Sorry . You added to my explanations though .

I saw pigs' trotters for sale in butchers' shops when I was a kid back in the 50s and even up to the mid 60s. My maternal grandmother would make oxtail soup with real oxtails.

Ox Tails are still considered quite a treat in some parts of America. They're served a lot in the small, Mom and Pop places down in the neighborhood where I work.

I suppose I should clarify this. They're "soul food".

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Caterwauller,

I have eaten pigs' trotters along with many other parts which we would nowadays eschew.

It's surprising how a World War and its attendant rationing can reduce fussiness!

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Originally posted by Richard English:
I have eaten pigs' trotters along with many other parts which we would nowadays eschew.

It's surprising how a World War and its attendant rationing can reduce fussiness!

I was born in 1950, but rationing was still in force right up till 1957. Also, my maternal grandparents lived on a farm, so I ended up eating all sorts of things too - like brawn (made from pigs' heads) and various organs.

I went to the seaside once and had Jellied Eels. I decided I quite liked them, together with various shellfish such as cockles, whelks and winkles. I don't think I could bring myself to eat oysters though - the thought of eating something alive makes me shudder.

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the thought of eating something alive makes me shudder.

Don't worry - they don't wriggle :-(

I think oysters wriggle. Yuk!

The ones I've eaten never have!

They're certainly wriggling no longer.

They don't "wriggle" per se, but they are all slimey and glistening and soft and squishy. I hate them!

I can't say I've ever eaten oysters and I know I never will. The texture is enough to put me off. It must be like drinking out of a spitoon!

I read once an instruction on eating oysters. From memory it ran thus:

"Open your mouth. Place the oyster on your tongue. Close your mouth. Look at the ceiling. The oyster will do the rest."

It works for me.

While not totaly repulsive oysters are far from pleasant to eat. I am suspiciuos of any food touted as an aphrodisiac as it is probably advertised thus by suppliers trying to get rid of stuff no one in their right mind would eat otherwise. Making certain foods outrageously expensive to appeal to the vanity of those who can afford it is another ploy for shifting dodgy goods.

Interesting that we'd be talking about oysters here. I heard about this large outbreak of red tide on the news this morning.

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Ox Tails are still considered quite a treat in some parts of America. They're served a lot in the small, Mom and Pop places down in the neighborhood where I work.

I suppose I should clarify this. They're "soul food".

San Francisco butcher shops and Chinese grocery stores carry them. They are right next to the pig uteri.

Squeamish individuals should probably stay away from balut as well (also touted as an aphrodisiac!).

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"Open your mouth. Place the oyster on your tongue. Close your mouth. Look at the ceiling. The oyster will do the rest."

But, what's the point? You can't taste it then, right? I've always thought the same for shots of liquor. It goes down so fast that you can't savor it.

I agree with Kalleh and Quark.. swallowing an oyster is like... well, I don't want to say... but if you have to close your eyes and hold your nose and look upwards.. who wants to eat it anyway? Throw it back..