> > Heh! Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Brunnen-G? IT'S A CONSPIRACY. HER 'SMARTIES' ARE NOT WHAT *WE* WOULD CALL 'SMARTIES'.
>
> Having lived in both England and the United States, I'm familiar with both kinds of Smarties, and I was just waiting for someone to pipe in at these descriptions of Smarties and wonder what was up. Yes, as Chris explained, Smarties here in the USA are like Sweet Tarts, but smaller in diameter, less tart, and slightly less cohesive. They come in a roll, wrapped in clear plastic twisted at both ends. There's about twelve or so Smarties in each roll, and the rolls usually come in a big plastic bag with a bunch of them inside.
>
> The Smarties I encountered in England -- one of my favorite candies while there -- are completely different. Unfortunately, I don't exactly remember what they were (too long ago!), but they *looked*, if not tasted, like M&Ms or Skittles. When I was there, they came in a cardboard tube, and you could open it at one end by pulling a plastic plug thing out of the end. On the inside of the plug, there was an alphabetic character (upper case on the big tubes, lower on the little) formed in relief in the plastic. I never did figure out what that was for. Some "collect all 26!" kind of thing? Further information from our non-U.S. folks would be welcome.

brings back memories... my first post to the Forum was in a thread about candy, and i specifically asked a question about european smarties. they taste a lot like M&Ms, only with actual good chocolate.... mmm.

uni"annoyed because my message was gone when i pushed back"peg