"mashmallow", the confection

Laurence Horn laurence.horn at YALE.EDU
Fri Nov 5 18:13:03 UTC 2010


At 12:45 PM -0400 11/5/10, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>The original brand name, soon rejected.
>
>JL

Even with that unforgettable jingle, "With a name like 'Eagle Turds'
they *have* to be good!"

LH

>
>On Fri, Nov 5, 2010 at 12:36 PM, Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at uga.edu> wrote:
>
>>  ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>  -----------------------
>>  Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>>  Poster:       Charles C Doyle <cdoyle at UGA.EDU>
>>  Subject:      Re: "mashmallow", the confection
>>
>>
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>  Are we talking about the hemispherical marshmallow (sometimes fluted) on a
>>  round wafer, the whole thing enwrapped in chocolate icing?  The only term
>>  that I have known for those as "eagle turds."  (Similar only in shape to the
>>  pink things sprinkled with coconut.)
>>
>>  --Charlie
>>
>>  ________________________________________
>>  From: American Dialect Society [ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] on behalf of
>>  Laurence Horn [laurence.horn at YALE.EDU]
>>  Sent: Friday, November 05, 2010 11:40 AM
>>
>>  >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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>>
>
>
>
>--
>"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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