密歇根新闻广播 ice cream还是iced cream

This week, That's What They Say is taking some inspiration from the Simpsons. Specifically, we were amused by a clip in which Mr. Burns tells Smithers how much he's enjoying "so-called iced cream."

Unless you're the same age as Springfield's oldest resident, you're probably more likely to enjoy "ice cream" over "iced cream."

Frankly¹, we're happy to eat it no matter what you call it. Especially if it's mint chocolate chip.

The transition of "iced cream" to "ice cream" happened over time, and now dictionaries recognize the latter as the accepted form.

There are plenty of other compounds that have lost a participial adjective, i.e., an adjective with an "ed" that comes before a noun. When was the last time you drank "skimmed" milk? Or put "creamed" cheese on your bagel? Or "whipped" cream on your pie?

The reason many of us have dropped the "ed" in these compounds probably has to do with pronunciation.

When we drop the "ed," it's easier to pronounce the consonant² at the beginning of the second word.

For example, what do you call the cold tea that many of us like to drink in the summer? You probably say "ice tea." It's just easier to say it that way than annunciate the "ed" ending before "tea."

You may still use the "ed" for some of these compounds, and that's okay. Many are in transition though, and new forms will eventually take over. Who knows, before long we could be eating "cream" corn instead of "creamed" corn.

While we're on the subject, does anyone actually like creamed corn? We'll have some of that so-called "iced cream" instead.

1 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

2 consonant   

n.辅音；adj.[音]符合的

参考例句：

• The quality of this suit isn't quite consonant with its price.这套衣服的质量和价钱不相称。
• These are common consonant clusters at the beginning of words.这些单词的开头有相同辅音组合。