What do they call that (food) in the UK?

Corned beef is corned beef.
Gingerbread is gingerbread.

Americans say both hot dogs and frankfurters. I have only heard hot dog used in the UK.

Herta calls them frankfurters, at least the ones I buy. I've seen the buns called both hot dog buns (tescos) and frankfurter buns (Sainsbury's I think.) My assumption is that both terms are familiar enough here to be recognized if you want to ask an employee where something is.

That reminds me: I want a hotdog!

ETA: At the moment I have two cartons of beef stock (so named) in my cupboard, but I've heard my SIL refer to a brown stock and didn't know what she meant. Now I do, thanks!

I thought the list was pretty good with a few exceptions.    I never take these lists to mean "This is what British people say, this is only what they say, this is always what they say."  I take them to mean "If you hear this expression and are wondering what people are talking about - this is a rough American translation."

My in-laws call it "squirty cream", and when I made gingerbread my mother-in-law told me it wasn't ginger bread it was "ginger cake".

There's nothing I've eaten in the UK that I would call "corned beef" because I loved a corned beef sandwich on toasted rye with swiss cheese in the US, and when I've tried "corned beef" here it was not the same.  I might try looking out for "salt beef" like pkmac said.

Isn't Corned Beef called Salt Beef?

[...]

I don't think whole-meal and whole-wheat are the same.

In the U.S. and Canada, corned beef has two meanings. One refers to a cut of beef (usually brisket, but sometimes round or silverside) cured or pickled in a seasoned brine. The other use of the term refers to a tinned product generally found with canned goods on supermarket shelves. This is UK corned beef sometimes also called salt beef. I don't think many people aged under about 80 call it "bully beef" any more, except maybe in jest. In Britain, corned beef is almost always found in trapezoid cans and imported from South America.

I always thought that wholemeal is the whole grain, milled, whereas wholewheat has part of the husk removed.

An American cupcake may be a British fairy cake, but British cupcakes are different. They are denser than fairy cakes and have a flat iced top.

Crayfish are not the same thing as Langoustines.

Crayfish are not the same thing as Langoustines.

I thought so to!

Saltines and Tater Tots are brand names. I have never heard them used generically, but only for that particular brand with the word on the label. The term potato croquettes is used in America.

I don't think saltines and tater tots are brand names.  There are various brands of each of those, and they all use the description of saltine or tater tot on the package. 

Oven crunchies are the UK version of tater tots, made with minced potato, whereas croquettes are made with mashed potato (and much nicer, IMO!) 

Crayfish are not the same thing as Langoustines.

Crayfish (or crawfish as they are often called in the United States) are fresh water decapods. Langoustines are closely related to the crayfish but are salt water decapods. Crayfish are somewhat lighter and more puffy on the palate, (people who eat that sort of thing tell me).

I thought the list was pretty good with a few exceptions.    I never take these lists to mean "This is what British people say, this is only what they say, this is always what they say."  I take them to mean "If you hear this expression and are wondering what people are talking about - this is a rough American translation."

THANK YOU!

This is what I was basically doing. Yes I know not "every" British person calls these things by the names I have mentioned, but knowing these names has really helped me shop online searching and ask for what I need at the store. Also some things are just comparable products if you are looking for something specific.

I did not know there was a difference between Langoustines and crayfish, thank you for clarifying that.

Tater tot is not brand name, in America you can get walmart brand tater tots.

When I asked for Hot Dogs at the store, I got canned ones in liquid

I don't think saltines and tater tots are brand names.  There are various brands of each of those, and they all use the description of saltine or tater tot on the package. 

There are different brands of each type of food, to be sure - but the name "Tater Tot" was originally trademarked by Ore-Ida while the name "Saltine" was originally trademarked by Nabisco.  A more generic term for each would be "hash brown" or "soda cracker."

but knowing these names has really helped me shop online searching and ask for what I need at the store.

I appreciate that this might be the case in your area, at the stores at which you shop, but it isn't the case in mine - or many others.

If I'm talking to someone and they use the term "brown stock," and I didn't know what they were talking about and felt confused or left out, then I'd ask them to clarify. 

If I'm shopping in Sainsbury's and need to find beef stock - I'd need to know that it's called beef stock here in the UK as well.  Knowing that some people might call it "brown stock" isn't really going to help, unless I have to ask a store employee and they've never heard of the term "beef stock."   A Brit *might* refer to beef stock as "brown stock," but the product on the store shelf is called "beef stock."   

That's why these sorts of lists are misleading - because there can exist many different regional terms for the same food item, and "swapping" one term for another isn't always the most expedient way to learn.

There are different brands of each type of food, to be sure - but the name "Tater Tot" was originally trademarked by Ore-Ida while the name "Saltine" was originally trademarked by Nabisco.  A more generic term for each would be "hash brown" or "soda cracker."

Thanks for posting that, Meg, it's really interesting. I wonder if these companies have to fight really hard to prevent trademark erosion.

Thanks for posting that, Meg, it's really interesting. I wonder if these companies have to fight really hard to prevent trademark erosion.

I imagine they do, given how common these sorts of things are, and not just for food - think of Kleenex and Xerox.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Nabisco lost the rights to Saltine somewhere along the way - their crackers are branded most visibly under the word "Premium" rather than just Saltine, and as others have pointed out, the word is used by other companies, like Keebler and Lance, to describe their soda crackers.   Ore-Ida, on the other hand, seems to have retained their rights - see their product page here.

/copyright geekery

I imagine they do, given how common these sorts of things are, and not just for food - think of Kleenex and Xerox.  In fact, I'm pretty sure Nabisco lost the rights to Saltine somewhere along the way - their crackers are branded most visibly under the word "Premium" rather than just Saltine, and as others have pointed out, the word is used by other companies, like Keebler and Lance, to describe their soda crackers.   Ore-Ida, on the other hand, seems to have retained their rights - see their product page here.

/copyright geekery

Actually, Kleenex and Xerox are exactly the two I was thinking of when I posted.

It makes Coke's ability to maintain its brand and thus copyright over all these years seem even more impressive. Fine balance to keep: ubiquitous but not generic.

If I'm shopping in Sainsbury's and need to find beef stock - I'd need to know that it's called beef stock here in the UK as well.  Knowing that some people might call it "brown stock" isn't really going to help, unless I have to ask a store employee and they've never heard of the term "beef stock."   A Brit *might* refer to beef stock as "brown stock," but the product on the store shelf is called "beef stock."

Last time I went to the store and grabbed a can of beef stock, it wasn't the plain brown liquid I would get in a can with the same name in the States.   The same thing goes with countless other things on this list.  Trial and error may be good for some, but this list may help others learn from our mistakes.  Some may find that their experiences contradict these, but isn't there a polite way of adding to the conversation?

As for the cloudy lemonade, that is definitely not at all like the Country Time (r) Lemonade I'm used to in the States.  Try mixing it with iced tea for an Arnold Palmer and see for yourself.

Trial and error may be good for some, but this list may help others learn from our mistakes.  Some may find that their experiences contradict these, but isn't there a polite way of adding to the conversation?

I wasn't aware that my post was at all impolite.  If you'll read through the thread, you'll see that I  posted a list, excerpted from the one posted by the OP, amended to show the specific terms that I myself have come across in the more than two years that I've been shopping and cooking in the UK.   I wouldn't have bothered doing so if I didn't think they might help someone.  (Perhaps I should have added that I've yet to see beef stock in a can at a UK grocery store - pouches and jars, yes, but no cans.)

As for the cloudy lemonade, that is definitely not at all like the Country Time (r) Lemonade I'm used to in the States. 

As I'm sure you're already aware, there simply isn't anything like Country Time lemonade here in the UK.  The cloudy lemonade sold under the name "Sicilian lemonade" - in cartons in the refrigerated section, like Country Time, not in 2L bottles - is the closest I've found as yet.  Have you tried it?