BBC Learnings · Section 5

The language of biscuits

In this programme we're talking about biscuits. Biscuits? Ha! A subject very close to my heart – something important to me and that interests me.

Level: B2 · 99 sentences

Transcript

  1. In this programme we're talking about biscuits.
  2. Biscuits? Ha! A subject very close to my heart – something important to me and that interests me.
  3. I know, Rob.
  4. You are a biscuit connoisseur, after all.
  5. And in the UK, many of us love to nibble these sweet treats.
  6. and we have lots of names for them too.
  7. Yes, we have the Chocolate Digestif, the Garibaldi,
  8. the Custard Cream and the Jammy Dodger.
  9. Oh, it's making my mouth water!
  10. I can see.
  11. But we're not going to be tucking into any biscuits today.
  12. Instead, we'll be looking at the origins and the language of this humble snack.
  13. And before we do that, Rob, let's test your knowledge of biscuits with a question.
  14. The British aren't the only fans of biscuits,
  15. so in which country are Barazeks traditionally eaten?
  16. Is it in a Syria, b Morocco or c Spain?
  17. Well, I've not eaten one, but I'll have a guess at Syria.
  18. OK, I'll reveal the right answer later on.
  19. But now let's talk more about biscuits, also sometimes known as cookies.
  20. They come in all shapes, sizes and varieties.
  21. They can be sweet or savoury, but I prefer the sweet ones that are crisp,
  22. crunchy and are good for dunking in my tea.
  23. Dunking means dipping into a liquid for a short period of time.
  24. But enough about your eating habits, Rob.
  25. Let's find out how the biscuit got its name.
  26. It's something the BBC Radio 4 programme Word of Mouth has been exploring.
  27. Dr Laura Wright, a historical linguist from the University of Cambridge,
  28. explains its origins.
  29. From Latin bis coctum, twice.
  30. cooked and it comes to us via Anglo-Norman French
  31. but it's bread that's been cooked twice to extract all the moisture
  32. so that it goes hard and it'll stay fit for consumption for a long time
  33. which is why you can take it to sea and have a sea biscuit
  34. and from the 1500s at least we spelt it like it sounds B-I-S-K-E-T
  35. but at some point in the 1800s
  36. we started to prefer the French spelling for reasons of ponciness
  37. So, the English word for biscuits has its origins in Latin.
  38. It describes cooking bread twice to make it hard.
  39. This baking process meant a biscuit could be kept for a long time.
  40. And as Dr Wright said,
  41. it would stay fit for consumption – another way of saying edible,
  42. or able to be eaten.
  43. That's why they were taken on long sea voyages.
  44. But they weren't like the biscuits we eat now.
  45. They were plain, simple and very hard-baked.
  46. Interestingly, the word biscuit used to be spelt B-I-S-K-E-T,
  47. but the French spelling B-I-S-C-U-I-T was later adopted.
  48. Biscuits are a handy go-to snack for when I'm hungry or bored.
  49. But how did biscuits become such a popular foodstuff and how did we come to depend on them so much?
  50. It's something Anastasia Edwards, author of Biscuits and Cookies – A Global History,
  51. talked about in the Word of Mouth programme.
  52. Listen to the word she uses to mean food in her explanation.
  53. One key fact in the rise of the popularity of the biscuit is meal times.
  54. Before the Industrial Revolution,
  55. people have a later breakfast and an earlier supper.
  56. By the end of the Industrial Revolution, breakfast is much earlier,
  57. the evening meal is much later, so you've got this big gap.
  58. of time where people need sustenance.
  59. And so lunch comes to greater prominence and tea time comes to greater prominence and snacking.
  60. So there's this great opportunity for really biscuits,
  61. something small, something ready,
  62. something easily consumable, not expensive, you know, a bit of a sugar rush.
  63. Right. So it was the industrial revolution that led to the rise,
  64. that's the increase, in the popularity of biscuits.
  65. Because the time between breakfast and dinner in the evening increased,
  66. people got hungry and they needed food to give them energy,
  67. what Anastasia called sustenance.
  68. So this is when smaller meals, such as lunch or tea,
  69. became important or more well-known.
  70. It had greater prominence.
  71. And this included snacking on biscuits.
  72. These were cheap and easily consumable, easy and quick to eat.
  73. And because of their ingredients,
  74. they gave you a sugar rush, a quick blast of energy.
  75. Of course, now we eat biscuits at any time.
  76. And because of their sugar content, we know to only eat them in moderation, Rob.
  77. Well, I think a packet a day is fine.
  78. But a whole box?
  79. Well, that would really take the biscuit.
  80. Take the biscuit!
  81. Good idiom there, Rob, to mean be the most foolish,
  82. annoying or surprising thing to do.
  83. But now let's find out the answer to my quiz question.
  84. Earlier I asked which country are barazeks traditionally eaten in.
  85. And I thought Syria.
  86. Was I right?
  87. Yes, you were.
  88. Well done. You are a smart cookie.
  89. Barazeks are biscuits filled with roasted sesame seeds and pistachio chips.
  90. They sound delicious.
  91. I would love to try some.
  92. OK. Well, we've been discussing the language of biscuits and mentioned some of these words.
  93. Dunking describes dipping something, like a biscuit,
  94. into liquid for a short period of time.
  95. Describing something as being fit for consumption means it's edible.
  96. which is another one of our words and it means it can be eaten.
  97. Sustenance is another word for food and something that has prominence is important or more well-known.
  98. And when you get a sugar rush, you get a quick blast of energy from,
  99. unsurprisingly, eating something containing lots of sugar.