I uncovered another weird linguistic variation between Canada and the U.S. the other day. During an everyday discussion of "so what do you eat for breakfast?" with a colleague, I mentioned that I usually have porridge.
"You have what?" he exclaimed.
"Um, porridge," I said.
"That's hilarious! I've never heard anyone use the word 'porridge' before."
"Okay, what do you call oatmeal porridge?"
"Oatmeal!"
"Okay, and if it's not oatmeal, what do you call it?"
"Cream of wheat!"
"So, no one in the U.S. calls that kind of food 'porridge'?"
"Only in fairy tales."
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