[Karmillo]

Heres a Discussion we just had In the AG irc that had us going round in Circles

Jeysie suggested there should be a thread made of it so here it is! Enjoy

<Karmillo> *Gasp* Database error?
<Dale> oh dear
<Dale> I blame Jack's new Hype-o-meter
<Dale> The Sam&Max and PW goodness has made it explode
<Dale> there we go
<Dale> silly site
<Karmillo> Pfft PW deservs #1!
<Karmillo> and whys uru live there? isnt it just a rerelease?
<Dale> It's more marking the comeback than anything
<Dale> since it will now getting new content and stuf
<Dale> f
* Jeysie makes a whoopy-doo sign.
<Dale> it's nowhere on my personal hype-o-meter
<Dale> btw, what does a whoppy-doo sign look like?
<Dale> er
<Dale> whoopy
<Karmillo> erm its a kinda rodeo truck horn type thing
<Jeysie> You point your index finger, hold it up in the air, and sort of wave your finger in a circle slowly.
<Jeysie> Whoopdie-doo sign, I should have said.
<Karmillo> Not necisseraly, you could have been inventing your own one
<Jeysie> Maybe, but whoopdie-doo is what I meant.
<Dale> another day, another new thing I find out
<Dale> doesn't beat LAMP though
* Jeysie points an entirely different finger at Dale.
<Jeysie> Anyhoo.
* Dale gives Jeysie a rather obscure hand gesture!
* Jeysie misinterprets the sign.
<Jeysie> That reminds me of one of the players in a Space Quest RP. He was playing a Sarien, while the rest of us were playing more typical races, and he kept trying to give us overly complicated battle hand signals which we turned into a gag of constantly misinterpreting them, which he then picked up and went along with.
<Jeysie> I miss that gag...
<Dale> I miss my hot water
<Jeysie> Tomorrow?
<Dale> hopefully
<Jeysie> Speaking of hot water, I have a mountain of dishes to wash soon. Gah.
<Dale> I have a mountain of dishes to wash
<Dale> and a kettle that knows I'm going to abuse it
<Jeysie> Is kettle abuse legal?
<Dale> it can't tell anybody!
<Jeysie> BTW, what sort of kettle are you referring to? In the US, "kettle" usually means "tea kettle", but since you don't drink tea, I'm assuming it's a language mismatch.
<Dale> kettles boil water
<Dale> what does a tea kettle do?
<Jeysie> Boil water.
<Dale> i see
* Huzmondo has joined #AdventureGamers
<Huzmondo> Yar babes.
<Dale> crazy americans
<Jeysie> I get it, though. It's just that usually it's a bit more specialized in terminology here. You might boil water for eggs in a saucepan, or use a double boiler, or boil water for spaghetti in a pasta pot... or boil water for tea in a tea kettle.
<Jeysie> Heya, Huz.
<Dale> so what happens if you boil water and use it for both tea and coffee at the same time?
<Huzmondo> Jeyso!
<Dale> does it become a tea'n'coffee kettle?
<Jeysie> Dale: Well, you'd never boil water for coffee, is the thing. You'd either use a coffee maker, or you'd heat the water in a mug.
<Huzmondo> Crazy stuff
<Karmillo> Wait I thought teah was made in a Tea Pot not a kettle!
<Dale> *pop*
<Jeysie> Dale: And even if you did boil water for coffee, you wouldn't use a kettle.
<Huzmondo> Jeysie is mental
<Karmillo> ...yeah you would
<Dale> *pop!!*
<Jeysie> Huz: Hey, I didn't invent American English. Don't pin this on me.
<Karmillo> you see, theres a tea pot, then theres a kettle
<Karmillo> no teak kettle or coffe kettle or whatever, kettles just boil water for general use
<Karmillo> like you can use a keetle to boile water to put in a pot to make pasta!
<Karmillo> also a kettle
<Jeysie> Karmillo: Here in the US... the tea kettle is what you boil the water in, and the teapot is what you put the finished tea in.
<Karmillo> yeah, you dont boile water in the teapot
<Jeysie> The word "kettle" just is never used to refer to any other reason for boiling water... at least, not here in Massachusetts, anyway.
<Huzmondo> This conversation is confusing. I'm just going to disregard it from now on.
<Huzmondo> "Pft!"
<Dale> lol
<Karmillo> but...it was you that said that the kettle was for tea!!!
<Dale> and only for tea
<Jeysie> Karmillo: It is.
<Karmillo> and who heats water up in a cup for coffe? how do you actualy do that? stick it in the oven?
<Huzmondo> What is the general-purpose water-boiling device called, then?
<Jeysie> Karmillo: There's this amazing device called a "microwave". I had always presumed they existed in the UK...
<Dale> ick
<Dale> microwaved water is horrible
<Karmillo> oh so coffe didnt exist before the microwave?
<Karmillo> *Coffee
<Jeysie> Karmillo: It did... and for all I know, back then people over here did in fact use the word "kettle" to refer to heating water for coffee as well.
<Jeysie> But nowadays they don't.
<Dale> craaaaazy
<Huzmondo> It is craaaaazy.
<Huzmondo> And I don't get it :~
<Jeysie> Huz: There is no general purpose term for a vessel in which one heats water. You just use the descriptive term for the actual vessel you're heating water in.
<Huzmondo> Describe this image in a single word! http://tom.carlson.org/tea/kettle.jpg
<Jeysie> Huz: It's a kettle...?
<Huzmondo> Yes, but... when the actual vessel is a kettle...?!
<Huzmondo> But... :~
<Huzmondo> Confuse.
* Jeysie sighs.
<Jeysie> My point is... *that* is a tea kettle, right?
<Huzmondo> Well, it's a kettle.
* Dale grins at Huz.
<Jeysie> ¬¬
<Huzmondo> I get the feeling you've just had the exact same conversation with Dale.
<Jeysie> OK, maybe we need a different approach to this.
<Jeysie> My point is, over here, if someone heated water in a device that Huz's picture showed, they'd almost certainly be making tea.
<Huzmondo> Oh, right. I just boil water for any purpose in the kettle. As do most sensible people who aren't American!!!!
<Karmillo> what about when your going to make pasta or something? dont you boil water in the kettle to save time?
<Dale> I know I do
<Jeysie> Karm: No, we boil water in the pasta pot, then put the pasta in the pot to save time.
<Huzmondo> I thought everyone did until I had this conversation. That's why it's BLOWING my MIND.
<Huzmondo>
<Dale> *pop*
<Karmillo> but thats just the normal way! that doesnt save time!
<Jeysie> Karmillo: Hence, you're boiling water in the pasta pot, not in a kettle.
<Karmillo> OHO! what about pot noodle?
<Jeysie> So, let me get this straight... putting pasta in a pot, then taking the time to boil water in an entirely different vessel, then pour it into the pasta pot, then have to wash twice as many dishes afterwards SAVES TIME?
<Jeysie> And you Brits are having trouble understanding Americans?
<Jeysie> To borrow Dale's line: *pop*
<Huzmondo> Wash twice as many DISHES?
<Karmillo> what do you mean wash twice as many dishes?
<Huzmondo> The kettle isn't a dish!
<Karmillo> exactly!
<Jeysie> Huz: So, a bowl isn't a dish?
<Dale> you'll get the electrics wet
<Karmillo> the only place that needs to ever wash a kettle is england cause of the limestone!
<Dale> and it'll all go bzzzt
<Huzmondo> Who said anything about a bowl?!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?!
<Jeysie> An electric kettle? OK, now *I'm* confused.
<Karmillo> So jeysie do you normaly eat out of the pot?
<Jeysie> Karmillo: No, surprisingly enough, we put the food on plates.

continued next post...

[Karmillo]

And the conclusion

<Huzmondo> Please note that I'm actually LOLing at this conversation
<Jeysie> WAIT!
<Huzmondo> You wouldn't think it possible to get confused over the word "kettle"
<Jeysie> Now I understand the confusion!
<Karmillo> Same, Im saving this convo forever!
<Jeysie> You Brits have separate water-heating devices which are vessel and heating implement at the same time!
<Jeysie> Over here, we generally just heat water in vessels on a stove or in a microwave!
<Jeysie>
<Dale> yeah, they're called kettles
<Dale>
<Jeysie> So over here, a kettle is just a type of fancy-pants vessel for heating water in, nothing special.
<Huzmondo> Hee, yes, although I suppose technically they are ELECTRIC kettles. We just use "kettle" to mean "electric kettle" generally, though. :~
<Huzmondo> Can we go back to being confused? That was more fun.
<Dale> can do
<Dale> *pop*
<Karmillo> by the way, what do you do when your making a Pot Noodle Jeysie?
<Huzmondo> Can you see why boiling water in a kettle saves time when cooking pasta now?
<Jeysie> Which is why I got confused. Over here, you heat water for specific purposes... so you never call a vessel a kettle (unless it's for tea), you call it what it *is*. Saucepan, pasta pot, measuring cup, mug... etc.
<Jeysie> Huz: Well... no. You have to cook the pasta on a stove anyway, so I'd still rather just heat the water on the stove in the pasta pot.
<Huzmondo> You shove the kettle on while preparing the rest of your pasta gubbins, so by the time you add the water it's already boiling.
<Jeysie> Sorry, still doesn't make any sense.
<Huzmondo> God. ;P
<Karmillo> POT NOODLES! what do you do for them?
<Jeysie> AGH!
<Dale> put cold water in and wait for the sun to heat it up
<Jeysie> OK, first Karm, then Huz.
<Huzmondo> SoccerDude's "silly songs" thread will be the end of me
<Karmillo> Glottis Image pot noodle
<Glottis> Karmillo: "pot noodle" returned a dead image. Cry.
<Karmillo> what? nonsense!
<Jeysie> Karmillo: If I was making pot noodles (I'm assuming you mean like ramen noodles or something), I'd either heat water in a saucepan on the stove or heat water in a measuring cup in the microwave.
<Jeysie> Most likely a measuring cup.
<Huzmondo> No, a "pot noodle" is a delicacy popular in Scotland!
<Dale> if you were without saucepan and microwave, would you resort to your kettle?
<Huzmondo> It's a plastic tub containing the noodles, the idea being that you add boiling water and you have a ready-made meal.
<Jeysie> Dale: If I owned a tea kettle, possibly.
<Karmillo> what? only in Scotland?
<Jeysie> Huz: Oh, that!
<Jeysie> Huz: Same explanation, then, actually.
<Huzmondo> Pft.
<Huzmondo> Get a kettle, it'll be a revelation!
<Huzmondo> No more slaving over a stove!
<Huzmondo> Flick a switch! You have boiling water!
<Dale> woo
<Karmillo> so wait, you take the noodle out of the Plastic cup and put in in a real pot?
<Jeysie> Huz: I have a MICROWAVE. Not only does it heat water, it heats other things, too! Why on earth do I need a kettle which does nothing but heat water?
<Huzmondo> Ease of use?
<Karmillo> cause its cheap and easy
<Jeysie> Karmillo: No.
<Jeysie> Huz: I dunno, I find pouring water into a vessel and sticking it into the microwave pretty easy, but maybe that's just me.
<Karmillo> think of this jeysie, what if you need to heat water AND use something else in the micro?
<Jeysie> Karmillo: Then I stick both the water and the something else into the microwave at the same time.
<Huzmondo> Ah, but a kettle? Pour water into a vessel and then the vessel heats it up by itself. One fewer step!
<Karmillo> and the kettle stores water aswell, you can heat up a load of water and it will be hot for a few hours
<Dale> kettles store water?
<Dale> that's handy!
<Dale> wouldn't want the water leaking out everywhere
<Jeysie> Huz: Anyway, the process of making pasta in my household generally consists of: Pour water into pasta pot. Pour sauce into saucepan. Heat sauce and boil water. Add pasta to water once it's boiled. Cook pasta. Pour sauce into pasta pot. Mix. Serve.
<Dale> sounds like a lot of effort
<Huzmondo> Jeysie needs one of those pasta kettles.
<Dale> heh
<Karmillo> lol
<Jeysie> Dale: I fail to see how using a kettle would make it any easier, aside from having to use both the stove and the kettle, then pour the hot water from the kettle into the pasta pot...
<Dale> yeah, but job done at that point
<Jeysie> Dale: But I still have to wait for the water to boil, and it's more work to have to transplant the water from one place to the other instead of just having it in the pot all along.
<Dale> my kettle is 20 centimeters from my stove
<Jeysie> Dale: Yes, but that's still 20cm more than having the water in the pot all the time.
<Karmillo> but it saves time
<Dale> and it takes seconds to boil, rathern than minutes
<Jeysie> Karmillo: How does heating the water in one place and transporting it save time over heating the water in the pot you're actually going to use it in?
<Karmillo> caust the kettle boils faster
<Dale> kettles boil quickly
<Jeysie> I'll take your word for it.
<Jeysie> Personally, I always figured that boiling time was based on... volume of water...
<Dale> well it is
<Dale> but kettles still do it fater
<Huzmondo> And power.
<Dale> faster
<Jeysie> Huz: Stoves are pretty powerful.
<Huzmondo> Kettles are 1KW of dedicated WATER BOILING POWER.
<Huzmondo> As opposed to BOTTOM OF PAN HEATING power.
* Jeysie rolls her eyes.
<Karmillo> Jeysie the stove heas to heat the pot, wich has to then heat the water
<Karmillo> but the kettle takes the heat straight to the water
<Jeysie> OK, you Brits can do whatever you like, but don't expect me to think it makes any sense.
<Karmillo> thats why its quicker
<Dale> heh
<Jeysie> Anyway. I still have one question...
<Karmillo> is it about Pot Noodles?
<Jeysie> Dale... why do you need hot water to use your kettle? Cold water actually can get hot, you know.
<Dale> no, i need the kettle to make hot water
<Dale> so I can do the washing up
<Dale> in not-cold water
<Jeysie> OK, now I get it.
<Dale> i could use a saucepan, but that's slow
<Jeysie> I misread it as... "I have a mountain of dishes that'll get washed
<Jeysie> This is what happens when you people put the same thought on two different lines. when I have hot water tomorrow, and a kettle that knows I'll abuse it once I have hot water."
<Dale> dear oh dear
<Jeysie> Anyway, one of you should save this conversation and post it on the forums. Best case, it'll spark a debate. Worst case, everyone will get to rag on me, which is no different than all the time, really.
<Huzmondo> We definitely need to have a discussion about the pros and cons of kettles
<Karmillo> I could do that, I saved it already
<Huzmondo> It could run and run, even longer than Thread Must Die I reckon.
<Jeysie> I've decided that my only purpose in life is to be the group Straight (Wo)Man in terms of comedy.
<Karmillo> but do you mean as a new Thread?
<Jeysie> I.E. I behave perfectly serious and everyone picks on me.
<Jeysie> Karmillo: Yeah, as a new thread.

[Sage]

I had no idea there was such a thing as an electric (tea) kettle. All the kettles I've seen here just sit on top of the stove like any other pot, and use the stove's heat to warm the water inside.
Then again, very few people in the US (or in Alabama, at least) have a (tea) kettle of any variety. The only one I've seen in actual operation belonged to a roommate of mine who had been stationed in the UK for several years while he was in the Air Force.
Coffee pots are another matter. There are the old-style percolaters that sit on the stove, electric percolaters that plug into an outlet, and modern "Mr. Coffee"-style coffee makers which also plug into an outlet.

[Huz]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: you people are MENTAL.

[Sage]

Originally Posted by Huz

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: you people are MENTAL.

"You people" being us bloody Yanks?

[Fairygdmther]

I'm going to stir the pot a bit further (pun intended). When I was growing up, all the big pots for heating water were called kettles - often porcelain covered, navy blue with white speckles on them or sometimes all white.

I have a tea pot (ceramic - you wouldn't ever put this on a stove)
tea kettle (stainless steel - meant for heating up water on the stove)

Many large kettles, pots, Dutch ovens, whatever you want to call them, all stainless steel, which I use often for making spaghetti sauce or meat broths, and preserving them, so I also use them to sterilize the jars.

I have a Mr Coffee, and somewhere packed away is a Mrs Tea - which sounds like the British version of an electric kettle.

Lynsie

[Karmillo]

If Mr Tea is anything Like Mr Coffee then does that mean that you make the Tea Inside the Electric kettle? Cause thats not what an electric kettle is over here, Its just a kettle that you heat up water in and can use it to whatever your imagination allows!

[Jatsie]

After reading that, I wouldn't be surprised it if turned out a "kettle of fish" is something literal in America...

I must say I find it almost incomprehensible that you don't have kettles, it's a key kitchen appliance!

Now it's my mission to try to find kettle related evidence on American television programmes.

[Sage]

Maybe we don't have electric kettles because we rarely need only a litre or two of boiling water prepared quickly?
In fact, the only time I've ever needed that amount of boiling water was when I was preparing pasta, and since cooking the sauce takes much longer than cooking the noodles time wasn't an issue.

[Fairygdmther]

The Mrs Tea can be used for both tea and heating water. Mine is packed away, since I never use it. I use a 3 qt saucepan to make the tea for my iced tea.

Lynsie

[Huz]

Yes, I'm talking about you bloody Yanks.

Originally Posted by Jat316sob

I must say I find it almost incomprehensible that you don't have kettles, it's a key kitchen appliance!

It's insanity. What about American hotels? Don't they have kettles in the rooms?

If I stayed in a hotel room without a kettle, I'd think there was something seriously WRONG with it.

[Sage]

Originally Posted by Huz

Yes, I'm talking about you bloody Yanks.

Okay. Good we cleared that up.

Originally Posted by Huz

It's insanity. What about American hotels? Don't they have kettles in the rooms?

None that I've ever seen. They do normally furnish an electric coffee maker, a pre-measured amount of coffee (just enough for one pot), and two styrofoam coffee cups. I always stay in the most basic of hotel rooms because all I do is sleep there, so fancy (and more expensive) suites might have more stuff in them.

Originally Posted by Huz

If I stayed in a hotel room without a kettle, I'd think there was something seriously WRONG with it.

Most hotels here have lots of amenities available for no additional charge that aren't kept in every single room all the time, so a simple call to the desk or concierge would probably get you a kettle very quickly.
That's why I love staying in casinos; The very slightest request causes the staff to fall all over themselves to fulfill it. This is definitely not the case in similarly-priced (read "cheap") regular hotels.

[Jelena]

Originally Posted by Thrift Store Scott

None that I've ever seen. They do normally furnish an electric coffee maker, a pre-measured amount of coffee (just enough for one pot), and two styrofoam coffee cups. I always stay in the most basic of hotel rooms because all I do is sleep there, so fancy (and more expensive) suites might have more stuff in them.

That´s about what I´ve found at British hotels and B&Bs. Except that the coffee/tea cups were china/porcelaine. (don´t know which expr?)

[Jatsie]

My memory isn't infallible, but I can't recall ever staying in a hotel suite that didn't come with a tea service, even in America.

[RLacey]

Woah... woah... wait a second... Are you telling me that Americans don't have kettles???



*collapses*

[Sage]

Originally Posted by Jat316sob

My memory isn't infallible, but I can't recall ever staying in a hotel suite that didn't come with a tea service, even in America.

I had no idea you'd even been to the US. If the hotel management knew you were from the UK, they may have substituted a tea service for a coffee service as a matter of course.
Then again you did say "suite", and there's quite a difference between a suite and a basic room in both space and standard amenities.

[Jazhara7]

Now just imagine what the conversation would have been like if I had dropped in and mentioned (once again) that we have a Tea Machine!

The confusion would have been complete.



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[RLacey]

Is that one of those silly machines that takes the little cups of stuff and produces single cups? So inefficient...

[Huz]

I must admit, I've known Americans are weird when it comes to tea and its preparation for at least a year. Last year while travelling around Europe, I had the following conversation with an American fellow traveller:

Me: "Want some tea?"
Him: "Sure, I'll have a glass of tea."

A glass? But I let it slide.

As it happened, there was only one mug, which I claimed, so he got his glass in the end.

Next question.
Me: "Milk?"
Him: "Milk? In tea? Hahaha!"

Americans are weird.

[Jazhara7]

Originally Posted by RLacey

Is that one of those silly machines that takes the little cups of stuff and produces single cups? So inefficient...

No. It's one of those things where you put three spoons of tea leaves (at least we do. You can put more in. Or less.) in the filter basket at the top of the machine, put water into water section, and turn the time wheel. After the water has been heated, the time wheel will start to turn, and after the time is over, the tea will flow into the tea-container can-thingy... Makes up to 8 cups (except if you like huge teacups, like my mother. Seriously, if she drank one of her cups, then there's just enough for one cup for my father [he drinks out of smaller teacups. Normal sized, I'd say.], and half a teacup for me [My teacups are slightly smaller than my mother's. Yeah, I guess it's about 1 1/2 normal teacup I get.]).

A bit like a normal coffee machine. Only for tea.

It looks a bit like a coffee machine, too. But not exactly.


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