Baps, Butties, and Sarnies

 

As a diehard Anglophile, I love the difference in words between British English and American English. I’ve had a Brit penpal since 1999 from whom I’ve learned some really neat words and phrases aside from the ones I’ve learned by reading. This blog concerns what Americans would simply call a sandwich. Not so in the UK.

 

 Bap

A bap is a soft white bun/bread roll. Pretty much used for a simple sandwich. The ones in the picture are a bacon bap and a sausage bap. The little puddle of sauce is HP Sauce, a British brown sauce. I’m sure BBQ sauce would do just as well. I have another Brit friend who likes Spam baps.

 

 Butty

Originally, a butty was simply a slice of bread with butter on it. Now it means two slices of buttered bread or a bun with some kind of filling. The most common fillings are chips (French fries to you and me), sausage, bacon or egg. I would guess a sausage McMuffin with egg would be pretty close. The fabulous bacon butty in the picture looks amazing!

 

  Sarnie

From what I’ve been able to find out, a sarnie is simply a sandwich. However you want to make it. No special rules for it. It seems the bap refers to a specific type of bun/bread. The term sarnie comes from a place where they had sardine sandwiches and it was shortened to sarnie and now just means sandwich. The one in the picture is a cinnamon French toast bacon sarnie.

 

Bottom line, though, I don’t think you’d be embarrassed if you asked for a sandwich in the UK.