shortcake

[Laurence Horn]

>I can't imagine why either term, "shortcake" or "shortening bread,"
>would be identified as SLANG--so it didn't occur to me to look in
>HDAS. Wait a minute; that must be a mistake! There IS no "vol. iv"
>of HDAS, is there??

No, there's not even a vol. iii, but *if* there *were* a volume
encompassing S, and *if* "shortcake" *were* slang, the entry below is
what you'd find.  Counterfactual lexicography: it's the latest trend.

LH

>
>In recent decades, at least, shortening bread (made of cornmeal, and
>used for sopping gravy or crumbling in buttermilk or pot liquor) and
>shortcake (made of wheat flour, serve as a dessert) are very
>different things--and both distinct from shortbread (and from sponge
>cake!).
>
>--Charlie
>_____________________________________________________________
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:55:53 -0400
>>From: Barnhart <barnhart at HIGHLANDS.COM>
>>
>>shortcake in HDAS (vol. iv) offers this definition of shortcake:
>>
>>"=shortening bread"
>>
>>At the entry for shortening bread the def reads:
>>
>>"Cornbread made with cooking fat, esp lard; often =crackling bread."
>>
>>In the DAE the def for shortcake reads:
>>
>>"A cake made with plenty of shortening; a cake made of biscuit dough"
>>
>>So, I agree with you and so do several lexicographers.  I live near
>>the CIA [Culinary Institute of America, in Hyde Park).  Next time
>>I'm in their library, I'll ask the librarian for further resources.
>>
>>DKB
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org