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Smooth like pudding....

me914

New Member
Hebrew
In the movie "Cars 2", there is an old car ("Lemon") that's always getting stuck,
and she said:

"I thought I could make it this time, but...
Smooth like pudding, huh?
Who am I kidding?
I'll always be a lemon."

What is the meaning of this frase?
In American English, "pudding" is a specific dessert of milk cooked with a starch to thicken it and a flavoring. It is usually very smooth in consistency (except for tapioca pudding and rice pudding which both have little lumps).
You can also do something smoothly - with no problems, easily.
To expand on what Myridon said, in the US "pudding" is not used to name the last course of a meal which consists of something sweet. A peach cobbler or an apple tart might be considered "puddings" in the UK, but would definitely not be considered "pudding" in the US.
I ment "phrase"...
Ok, thanks Myridon!
Is pudding (AE) the same as custard (BE), which is renowned for its smoothness? (Interesting history of food site: http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpuddings.html)

Pudding (BE) is both a heavy but sweet dessert (lower classes) and the word for the dessert course in general (higher classes), so in BE "as smooth as pudding" doesn't work.
Custard is milk thickened with egg while pudding (AE) is milk thickened with a starch such as flour, cornstarch (corn flour (BE)), tapioca, rice, ... Pudding is not wiggly like custard. Flan (creme caramel) and creme brulee are custard not pudding.
If you say, "custard" in BE, there will be no eggs. Wiki
Bird's Custard (a brand name) is the original version of what is known generically as custard powder. It is a cornflour (US cornstarch)-based powder which thickens to form a custard-like sauce when mixed with milk and heated to a sufficient temperature. Bird's Custard was first formulated and first cooked by Alfred Bird in 1837, because his wife was allergic to eggs,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird's_Custard#cite_note-0 the key ingredient used to thicken traditional custard.
Bird's Custard is the standard by which all other custards are judged. If custard is made with eggs, it will be introduced and distinguished, e.g. "And this is real custard made with real eggs" Apparently this comes as a surprise, and not necessarily a pleasant one, to most British people if given custard made with eggs.
Pudding (BE) is both a heavy but sweet dessert (lower classes) and the word for the dessert course in general (higher classes), so in BE "as smooth as pudding" doesn't work.
Pudding (BE) corresponds to our dessert (AE).
With no more than my own experience as evidence, I would say that "dessert" has always existed in BE (particularly in the plural) along side "pudding" but "pudding" (meaning dessert) is losing ground.
If you say, "custard" in BE, there will be no eggs. WikiBird's Custard is the standard by which all other custards are judged. If custard is made with eggs, it will be introduced and distinguished, e.g. "And this is real custard made with real eggs" Apparently this comes as a surprise, and not necessarily a pleasant one, to most British people if given custard made with eggs.
From what I can tell from Google, "custard powder" custard (BE) seems to come in "fake egg custard" flavor (a little vanilla with something to make it custard yellow). Pudding (AE) is usually not an imitation of custard - chocolate, vanilla, lemon, banana, ...
Flavors of Jell-O Pudding http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jell-O#Pudding (they do have "egg custard" as a specialty flavor - it comes in a different box with the word "Americana" on it)
Last edited:
In the movie "Cars 2", there is an old car ("Lemon") that's always getting stuck,
and she said:

"I thought I could make it this time, but...
Smooth like pudding, huh?
Who am I kidding?
I'll always be a lemon."

What is the meaning of this frase?

And you probably already realize, but he is using the phrase sarcastically. His experience is not, in fact, "smooth like puddin'".
And you probably already realize, but he is using the phrase sarcastically. His experience is not, in fact, "smooth like puddin'".
👁 Thumbs Up :thumbsup:


His intention was to be smooth like pudding (i.e. to accomplish his task without difficulty) but he failed.

Here are two relevant definitions:
  1. free from problems or difficulties: a smooth day at the office.
  2. elegant, easy, or polished: a smooth manner with difficult clients.
Here's the definition that relates to pudding:
free from lumps, as a sauce: smooth gravy.

It's not really the same thing literally, but figuratively you can compare them.
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