Shave Ice; Hawaiian Loanwords

[James A. Landau]

In a message dated 02/17/2002 1:20:38 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Bapopik at AOL.COM writes:

> SHAVE ICE--This is sold all over.  In New York City, it's called Italian
Ices
> or Snow Cones.  Why Shave Ice?  Not _Shaved_ Ice?

If memory serves, the phrase "shaved ice" occurs in _Thank You, Mr.
President_ by A. Merriman Smith, published by Harper's in 1946.  The
reference was to a White House reporter who mixed Scotch and soda with shaved
ice, producing a drink that Smith describes as so cold it was almost
impossible to drink.

As far as I know, Snow Cones are made from crushed ice, which is much coarser
than shaved ice.

I have a Rosati brand "Italian Ice" in front of me.  It appears to have been
created by mixing the ingredients together and then freezing the entire
assembly---no shaved ice or crushed ice involved.

I have a World War I citation for "Neapolitan ice", but it's in German.

In a message dated 02/16/2002 12:44:10 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Bapopik at AOL.COM writes:

>    The United Airlines flight served "Ken's Lite Ranch, 1941 Steakhouse
>  Dressing."

About 1930 someone had the bright idea that the way to make money in the
aviation business was to both manufacture airplanes and fly them.  So this
person or group put together what we would now call a "conglomerate"
consisting of Boeing (aircraft manufacture), Pratt and Whitney (engines), and
what was originally called "Boeing Air Transport" but soon had its name
changed to "United Air Lines", the "United" referring to the fact that
manufacture and flying were under one corporate roof.

Early in the FDR administration there was a long faceoff between the Feds and
the airlines, a tragic event since a number of pilots were killed during this
faceoff.  The airlines mostly won, but the Feds got a few things in their
favor, such as forbidding airplane manufacturers from going into the flying
business.  Hence the United conglomerate was broken up, which means you were
actually flying on "Untied Airlines".

      - Jim Landau