Ahh, an update to my Christmassy ponderings on why Brussel Sprouts aren't just called sprouts. I was at
Examples of Language Differences between Countries and States which wasn't particularly interesting, but did mention that:
"An American asking for "Sprouts" would probably mean "Bean sprouts" whereas in the U.K. this would mean "Brussel sprouts" (which is a small green leaved vegetable)."
So yes, of course, beansprouts, I didn't really think of them when I was trying to think of sprouts, 'cos they're all one word, maybe they aren't actually meant to be, I'm not sure, I've always just thought of them as beansprouts. Don't people have brussel sprouts in the US then? Presumably not as they had to describe them in their explanation.
