The idea for this phrase is based on the reaction someone might have when reading a shocking article in a morning newspaper at the breakfast table. Of course, the prospect of marmalade dropping from a knife or slice of toast and depositing itself in the lap of the astonished reader has to be a distinctly British concept, the term marmalade not being used across the Atlantic. Based on the breakfast habits of Americans, the US equivalents are the terms cornflake choker or more commonly muffin-choker, for example: