Wednesday 12 March 2008

Just Desserts: Pictured Around Oxford


This is a tasty British dessert. Can't quite make out the name? Here it is:



"Fru Fruity Puds." Even knowing that the last word is pronounced like "poods" as in "pudding" rather than "pudds" as in..., well, let's not go there, does not ameliorate the unease I felt upon consuming my zesty lemon cheesecake.

Tickets, Please
If you park illegally in Oxford you may find your windshield adorned with a brightly-colored plastic bag with a ticket inside:


Your first reaction upon getting an expensive ticket may be to wish the whole thing would just go away. That would be unwise, for as the plastic bag warns:



It's like they read my mind. Luckily, I don't have a car in England, so it's nearly impossible to get a parking ticket.

Nor do I have much in the way of a lawn, so I don't have to worry about mole infestation. Lest you think that moles are random creatures, take a look at this, near Godstow Abbey:

I love the sinuous perfection of that mole's work.

8 comments:

Candadai Tirumalai said...

I found that in England one coud get desserts or other treats which ranged from the very sweet and saturated-fat-laden to the lightly sweetened and relatively more heart-friendly kind.

Jo said...

I'm a Gu saucy n cheeky chocolate puds person, myself. And we've finally found dark chocolate HobNobs, which may make my life complete.

Anonymous said...

The Gu chocolate puds that Virgin serves on the transatlantic flights are the only airplane food I look forward to. Though, the free flowing booze is nice too.

Anonymous said...

"Pudds as in...".

You've lost me there. As you did that time you started kvetching.

"Pudds as in, what?"

Am I being dim?

R

John Kelly said...

@Richard: You, dim? Never. Just another example of two peoples divided by a common language. Unless I'm very much mistaken, "pudd"-- or "pud"-- is somewhat antiquated slang for 'penis.' So a "Fruity Pud" is something that needs penicillin. It's like that old Lenny Bruce joke: "President Eisenhower was in the Rose Garden playing with his putts." Eisenhower was known to be a keen golfer and "putz" is Yiddish for, well, you know.

Anonymous said...

Not to "bang on" about it, but I sort of thought that "pud" was a corruption of putz, not unlike pineapple as a topping is a corruption of pizza.

Anonymous said...

The double D might have confused richard. It's spelled "pud," just like the Brit abbreviation of "pudding," but the U is short, as in pup.

Anonymous said...

The speeding ticket reminds me of a sign I saw in the post office today: "Anti-social behaviour will not be tolerated."