The Lemon Fool

I left the Malteser "Milk Chocolate Reindeers" on the shelf last Christmas and I usually manage to avoid "Eat Natural" products for the same reason. Imagine my horror, then, when I came back from Sainsbury's and found that I had bought some "Mini Toad in the Holes". It is too late to take them back now as we have eaten them but shouldn't they be called " Toads in the Hole"?

I remember the confused look I got in McDonald's a few years back when I asked for "two Quarter Pounders Deluxe".
" Two Quarter Pounder Deluxes?" came the reply.
I just said yes and ordered the drinks.


Julian F. G. W.

jfgw wrote:I left the Malteser "Milk Chocolate Reindeers" on the shelf last Christmas and I usually manage to avoid "Eat Natural" products for the same reason. Imagine my horror, then, when I came back from Sainsbury's and found that I had bought some "Mini Toad in the Holes". It is too late to take them back now as we have eaten them but shouldn't they be called " Toads in the Hole"?

I think not, because what you are commenting on is an item the name of which is ''Mini Toad in the Hole''. If you buy two of them then surely you have bought two ''Toad in the Holes''. I think of the name as though it were in brackets. I stand to be corrected though.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:

jfgw wrote:I left the Malteser "Milk Chocolate Reindeers" on the shelf last Christmas and I usually manage to avoid "Eat Natural" products for the same reason. Imagine my horror, then, when I came back from Sainsbury's and found that I had bought some "Mini Toad in the Holes". It is too late to take them back now as we have eaten them but shouldn't they be called " Toads in the Hole"?

I think not, because what you are commenting on is an item the name of which is ''Mini Toad in the Hole''. If you buy two of them then surely you have bought two ''Toad in the Holes''. I think of the name as though it were in brackets. I stand to be corrected though.

Dod

But we can't have more than one toad in each hole, which Toads in the Hole implies. Or one toad in several holes, which would be a greedy toad.
So, I would suggest Toads in the Holes.

Arb.

Perhaps we just need to hear it pronounced with an appropriate accent. The voice of Ian McMillan springs to mind.

I also avoid the Sainsburys aisle where "free from foods" foods are sold. And I'm unlikely to buy a vegan cookbook - you just can't get the raw ingredients these days.

I am reliably assured that a toad in the hole is the only thing worse than a frog in the throat. That's a singular hole, of course. The thought of a plurality makes my eyes water.

BJ

jfgw wrote:Imagine my horror, then, when I came back from Sainsbury's and found that I had bought some "Mini Toad in the Holes". It is too late to take them back now as we have eaten them but shouldn't they be called " Toads in the Hole"?

But were they each small toads in BSI standard holes?
Perhaps one end of genus Bufonidae was in one hole and the other end in another hole. Or if the toads were standard English toads and holes mini, each toad extended through one hole and into another.
The argument could be pedantically (and tediously) extended to mini pigs in blankets and angels on horseback.

Each toad was in its own hole.

Thinking about it, "Mini Toads in the Hole" implies one hole between them. Maybe it should be "Mini Toads in Holes".


Julian F. G. W.