[Vocabulary] Porridge vs. Gruel

[freezeframe]

I don't think any American uses "porridge" outside of reciting nursery rhymes to their children.

What do you use? And from what part of the US are you?

Thanks

 

[BobK]

Two thumbs up on word usage! :up::up:
Gave me a chuckle.

I too was impressed by the notion of imagery-usurpation. ;-)

b

 

[5jj]

I don't think any American uses "porridge" outside of reciting nursery rhymes to their children.

Well, for those of you who may not know what porridige is: it is a breakfast dish made from boiling oats in milk and/or water. 'Oats' was defined by Dr Johnson (1755) as, " A grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people".

 

[freezeframe]

due to its glutinous texture, gluey lumpishness, hint of slime,
and unsual willingness to disintigrate, oatmeal should
not be eaten alone...*

*secrets of how the "Ode to a Nightingale" was written are also revealed

 

[SoothingDave]

What do you use? And from what part of the US are you?

Thanks

I am in Pennsylvania (where the Northeast meets the Mid Atlantic).

For hot breakfast cereals, we would have oatmeal or Cream of Wheat (which is a brand name). We wouldn't call it porridge.

In the South, they also have grits, made from corn(maize).

If I had to refer to them in the general, I would say "hot cereal."

 

[riquecohen]

Hi,

I agree with everything discussed so far, but here in the southern US, nobody would say they had porridge for breakfast. They would say oatmeal, or grits, or Cream of Wheat.

Or hot cereal, to differentiate it from Corn Flakes. Grits had a brief spurt of popularity in the northeast after Jimmy Carter (or was it Bill Clinton?) became President, but the fad soon died.

 

[Mr_Ben]

This is pretty much my only exposure to grits, I had no idea what she was talking about when I was a kid.

YouTube - Kiss My Grits