"mashmallow", the confection

[Jonathan Lighter]

Who ever said lexicographers can spell?

JL

On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 11:40 AM, Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: "mashmallow", the confection
>
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>
> >Apparently they only sell 'em now during the Thanksgiving-Christmas Axis
> of
> >Food Evil.
> >
> >So watch your store shelves.
> >
> >Chocolate Pinwheels are OK, but they don't fit as comfortably in the hand
> >and they have a less chocolatey finish. The shape too is rather baroque
> for
> >my taste.
> >
> >A Canadian firm bakes a variant Mallowmar (I forget the name) which adds a
> >layer of raspberry jam between the marshmallow and the cake.  Also OK, but
> >not really a Mallowmar.
> >
> >JL
>
> And more crucially, not really a Mallomar! (Maybe the w-lessness was
> to assure we'd pronounce it as in "callow" rather than "fellow"; like
> everyone else, New Yorkers pronounce "marshmallow" itself with an /E/
> as in "mellow".)
>
> But of course there's a wiki entry for the category, with
> cross-confectionary typology.  I was delighted to read of one
> counterpart that "The Tunnock's Teacake enjoys iconic status in
> Scotland, evoking memories of childhood, or symbolizing "home" for
> Scots around the world." On the other hand, it's sobering to see all
> the "Negro (Negress) Kiss (Head)" versions.
>
> Mallomars ("produced seasonally at Nabisco", as Jon warns) are
> themselves are described as follows:
> "A graham cracker circle is covered with a puff of extruded
> marshmallow, then enrobed in dark chocolate, which forms a hard
> shell."
>
> Poetic, no?
>
> LH
>
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