Why Is 'Cream of the Crop' the Best of the Best?

 

Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

On this show, we explore language. Where do expressions come from? And how do we use them?

Today we go down on the farm – the dairy farm, to be exact.

Many female animals, such as cows and goats, produce milk for their young. Cream is the fat in milk. And we use cream from farm animals to make many tasty foods. We also use cream in some really great expressions!

Let’s start with the best of the best – the cream of the crop!

You’re the cream of the crop. You’re the tip of the top.

You’re the best of the best – ahead of the rest.

(Sister Sledge¹ sings “Cream of the Crop” from 1976.)

When you let milk sit, cream rises to the top. The cream is considered to be the best tasting part of milk. So, if something is the “cream of the crop,” it the best of its kind. For example, the apples from a farm near my house are the best, I could say they are the cream of the crop.

But English speakers use this expression for just about anything, not just food or drink.

We can describe people this way. For example, the students listed at the top of their class are generally the cream of the crop.

The noun “cream” has been used to mean "the best" since the 16th century. The French expression la crème de la crème means "the cream of the cream." And it came into use in English by the year 1800.

These days, we commonly use crème de la crème in informal, everyday speech. You can often hear Americans say this even if they have never spoken French in their lives. For some reason, they drop the first article “la”. (Well, perhaps the reason is that they do not actually speak French.)

Now, back to foods!

Cream is used in many foods. Naturally, you needs cream to make a cream puff²! A cream puff is a light and delicate pastry³ filled with sweet cream. They are a popular treat and can be very delicious.

Outside of the bakery, however, cream puffs⁴ can also describe a person.

If you call a man a “cream puff,” you are saying he is weak – both physically⁵ and mentally. And he is really not that good at anything.

Now, a cream puff you get from the bakery is delicate and can fall about easily. So, when talking about a woman, a cream puff is a delicate female.

I know she doesn't really want to stay. Be careful how you hold her. Please don’t ever scold her. She’s my cream puff.

(UB40 sings “Cream Puff.”)

However, I would not suggest calling a woman a “cream puff.” It’s best to leave the cream puffs in the bakery.

Talking about baked good, many are made with butter. And butter comes from cream!

You start with a bowl filled with fresh cream. If you beat the cream again and again, you will get butter. Many dessert recipes call for mixing, or creaming, butter with other ingredients like sugar.

Creaming butter is an important part of making some foods. It can take some time and arm strength to cream butter, especially if it is cold. You must beat and beat the butter until it becomes soft.

So, it is not surprising that when you get creamed in real life, you get beaten badly. You can get creamed in a sporting event. If your basketball team loses by 30 points -- you guys got creamed.

Usually there is an opponent who creams you. So, if you do poorly on a test, you would not say you got creamed. That would mean you were competing against other students and they won.

We also use the term “creamed” when talking about a physical beating. So, if someone beats you up -- which we hope will never happen -- you could say that person creamed you. (That is terrible and we are so sorry.)

But maybe the person who creamed you is a good friend. They apologized, and now, everything seems better. You could say that everything between you is now peaches and cream. This means a situation that started off badly or was going badly is now very much improved.

Here is another example. And this one does not involve anyone getting "beat up."

Let’s say a new business got off to a bad start. The office space was in poor shape. The product launch failed. And several investors⁶ pulled out. But now, a year later, the company is turning a profit, the offices are beautiful and all the investors are happy. Everything is peaches and cream!

Peaches and cream is also used to describe a woman’s skin. This means her skin is creamy, clear and soft. Which is strange, when you think about it. Peaches are usually yellowish-orange and a little fuzzy. That would mean someone with a peaches-and-cream skin would look a little orange and a little hairy.

But it doesn’t mean that. As we often say, English is funny that way!

And that’s Words and Their Stories. I’m Anna Matteo.

Your final return will not diminish⁷

And you can be the cream of the crop;

It's not where you start, it's where you finish,

And you're gonna finish on top!

Words in This Story

dairy – n. an establishment for the sale or distribution chiefly of milk and milk products

delicate – adj. easily torn or damaged

pastry – n. usually sweet baked goods made of dough⁸ having a high fat content

delicious – adj. appealing to one of the bodily senses especially of taste or smell

bakery – n. a place for baking or selling baked goods

bowl – n. a round hollow dish without handles

fuzzy – adj. covered with short, soft hairs, fur, etc. : covered with fuzz

diminish – v. to make less or cause to appear less

1 sledge   

n.雪橇，大锤；v.用雪橇搬运，坐雪橇往

参考例句：

• The sledge gained momentum as it ran down the hill.雪橇从山上下冲时的动力越来越大。
• The sledge slid across the snow as lightly as a boat on the water.雪橇在雪原上轻巧地滑行，就象船在水上行驶一样。

2 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

3 pastry   

n.油酥面团，酥皮糕点

参考例句：

• The cook pricked a few holes in the pastry.厨师在馅饼上戳了几个洞。
• The pastry crust was always underdone.馅饼的壳皮常常烤得不透。

4 puffs   

n.吸( puff的名词复数 )；（烟斗或香烟的）一吸；一缕（烟、蒸汽等）；（呼吸或风的）呼v.使喷出( puff的第三人称单数 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧

参考例句：

• We sat exchanging puffs from that wild pipe of his. 我们坐在那里，轮番抽着他那支野里野气的烟斗。 来自辞典例句
• Puffs of steam and smoke came from the engine. 一股股蒸汽和烟雾从那火车头里冒出来。 来自辞典例句

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

7 diminish   

vi.变少，变小，降低；vt.减少，减小，降低

参考例句：

• We should try to diminish the cost of production.我们应尽力减少生产成本。
• He likes to diminish the skill of others.他喜欢贬低别人的技术。

8 dough   

n.生面团；钱，现款

参考例句：

• She formed the dough into squares.她把生面团捏成四方块。
• The baker is kneading dough.那位面包师在揉面。