oops

[Laurence Horn]

>FWIW, since there's "pie a la MODE," I vote for "mode" as the
>formerly-understood noun.
>
>-Wilson
>
>
The AHD votes the same way:

À LA:  'short for "à la mode de"'

In France, I believe the default "à la mode" is used only for a way
of preparing one's boeuf, not for ice cream served with pie.  And
then of course there's the reanalysis yielding the classic dessert
option "pie with alamode".  The AHD doesn't have an entry for that,
but it does for another nominal "alamode" referring to 'a lustrous
plain-weave silk fabric covering for head coverings and scarves'.
Pie with alamode, on the other hand, is what you have for dessert
after a main course of roast beef with au jus.

larry

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