Chocolate

Use this forum to discuss past Good Words.
User avatar
Dr. Goodword
Site Admin
Posts: 7417
Joined: Wed Feb 02, 2005 9:28 am
Location: Lewisburg, PA
Contact:

Chocolate

Postby Dr. Goodword » Sun Nov 23, 2014 10:59 pm

• chocolate •

Pronunciation: chah-kê-lit • Hear it!

Part of Speech: Noun, Adjective

Meaning: A drink, paste, or candy made from the fruit of the cacao plant, roasted and ground to a fine powder, with or without sugar.

Notes: The middle vowel of today's Good Word usually falls victim to the Loose Vowel Syndrome (LVS) and is omitted even in normal speech. Careful speakers include it, though. The noun is now used adjectivally as a color, a rich brown one, as a chocolate suit or chocolate soil. There is an adjective, chocolaty, which can mean rich in chocolate or resembling chocolate in color.

In Play: Use chocolate with caution (it can be addictive), but the word you may toss around with abandon, so long as you keep in mind that it always connotes the ultimate in edibility: "The chocolate make-up on her eyelids made it difficult for him to keep his lips to himself." Ladies, please use make-up of this color judiciously, lest you encounter a chocoholic (someone obsessed with chocolate).

Word History: English borrowed chocolate from Spanish, but it ultimately comes from the language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl: xocolatl. This word is built on xococ "bitter", a drink made by the sugar-free Aztecs from cacao, itself from Nahuatl cacauatl "cacao". The same language gave us coyote from coyotl and chili from chilli. It is also the source of ahuacamolli "avocado soup or sauce", from which Spanish guacamole derives. Ahuacomolli is based on ahuacatl "avocado", which Spanish also borrowed. Aztec ahuacatl sounded so much like the old Spanish word avocado "lawyer" (currently abogado), that the Spanish made that slight folk etymological adjustment before lending the word to English.
• The Good Dr. Goodword

User avatar
call_copse
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 668
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:42 am
Location: Southampton

Re: Chocolate

Postby call_copse » Mon Nov 24, 2014 8:12 am

I think we would favour chocolatey in Britain over chocolaty - this is also the name of a popular software package manager.
Iain

George Kovac

Re: Chocolate

Postby George Kovac » Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:52 am

chah-klet? So, "loose vowel syndrome" is another gut reaction that afflicts English pronunciation. I remember first learning of another English malady when studying Chaucer. Apparently the "great vowel shift" is the reason so much of our spelling is irregular.

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Re: Chocolate

Postby LukeJavan8 » Mon Nov 24, 2014 2:47 pm

I don't care how it's spelled, as long I have some available.
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: Chocolate

Postby Philip Hudson » Sat Nov 29, 2014 1:47 pm

Although I have long been studying the influence of Nahuatl on Mexican Spanish and from there to English, I never cease to be amazed by it. I grew up at the confluence of three small rivers in Texas. They are the Frio, Nueces and Atascosa. We fondly call my home town of Three Rivers, "Two Creeks and a Mud Hole". Atascosa means mud hole. Its source is uncertain but is definitely Amereind and not Spanish as are Nueces and
Frio. Although Two Creeks and a Mud Hole usually describes these rivers, in the runoff of a hurricane induced rain, they are raging torrents, rising thirty feet or more above the river bed.

The local Amerind population was Coahuiltecan. These bands of very primitive Amerinds were so disjointed and confusing in language and culture, or the lack thereof, that there is little known about their languages today. It seems every small band had its own language. They gladly gathered around the Spanish missions where they finally had something to eat besides cactus fruit and mesquite beans. Of course they had to work to get corn, frijoles, peppers, and pumpkins. Work was a thing they had never done in the primitive state. While most Amerinds got a raw deal from the "White Man", the Coahuiltecan were the better for it. The large proportion of the Texas population that is descended from Coahuiltecan ancestors attests to it.

This could lead to my discussing the present state of Indians in the USA, but since this is not a political forum I shall forbear. it could also lead to a discussion of the positive effects of Christian missions, but this is not a religious forum either so again I shall forbear. Write me a private message if you are interested.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

User avatar
bailey66
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Chocolate

Postby bailey66 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:44 pm

The very best Chocolate I've ever had and we got it every Christmas from Norway from people my parents knew, was Kong Haakon. A huge box ( no longer, its much much smaller now), wonderful rum soaked chocos, coconut and rum, dark Chocolate that puts American garbage (all HFCS, all the tme) not just to shame but routs it by a thousand miles.

We got these as gifts from people whose son my grandparents rescued from Hitler's clutches. And who stayed in the US with them for many years.

Ive since ordered some, in that much smaller box to get a taste of good Chocolate from my childhood.

Btw, real "Danish" tastes so good, not like the wet cardboard we get here in the US. When in Copenhagen we stopped at every bakery. Another taste from childhood I'll never have again.

M. Whose-life-is-bounded-by-smell-and-taste Bailey
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, Isa30:15

User avatar
bailey66
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Chocolate

Postby bailey66 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 2:46 pm

I don't care how it's spelled, as long I have some available.
"Just hand me the Chocolate and no one will get hurt", right ?

Mb
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, Isa30:15

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: Chocolate

Postby Perry Lassiter » Sat Nov 29, 2014 6:19 pm

Sorry, but in chocolate I'm a peasant. I've sampled all sorts of European chocolates, but Hershey's is still my favorite and Milky Way a distinct second.
pl

LukeJavan8
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 4423
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2009 6:16 pm
Location: Land of the Flat Water

Re: Chocolate

Postby LukeJavan8 » Sat Nov 29, 2014 9:18 pm

I don't care how it's spelled, as long I have some available.
"Just hand me the Chocolate and no one will get hurt", right ?

Mb


You've got my ticket!
-----please, draw me a sheep-----

User avatar
call_copse
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 668
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:42 am
Location: Southampton

Re: Chocolate

Postby call_copse » Tue Dec 02, 2014 8:31 am

Sorry, but in chocolate I'm a peasant. I've sampled all sorts of European chocolates, but Hershey's is still my favorite and Milky Way a distinct second.
It's what you grow up with mainly I think. I tend to prefer simple cheap chocolate to very fancy stuff. However I cannot eat Hershey's chocolate - it seems (to me) to have a particularly nauseous odour.
Iain

Philip Hudson
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 2784
Joined: Thu Feb 23, 2006 4:41 am
Location: Texas

Re: Chocolate

Postby Philip Hudson » Tue Dec 02, 2014 1:18 pm

Ian, did you mean nauseating odor? Nauseous means you are about to puke. Then you are nauseous, not the odor of the chocolate. This is one of those battles I am fighting to keep the language on keel. Even the dictionaries have turned against me. I know I am bound to lose. But nonetheless, I flinch every time I see or hear it. It makes me nauseous.
It is dark at night, but the Sun will come up and then we can see.

Perry Lassiter
Great Grand Panjandrum
Posts: 3333
Joined: Wed Jan 03, 2007 12:41 pm
Location: RUSTON, LA
Contact:

Re: Chocolate

Postby Perry Lassiter » Tue Dec 02, 2014 5:33 pm

I suspect "nauseating odor" might fit Philip's sensibilities better. In my case, I don't smell candy, so I have no idea what Hershey's odor might be. I pop it into my mouth too quickly. Although I do recognize some say odor is part of taste.
pl

User avatar
bailey66
Junior Lexiterian
Posts: 97
Joined: Mon Oct 27, 2014 3:57 pm

Re: Chocolate

Postby bailey66 » Wed Dec 03, 2014 1:09 am

I don't know from nauseating or nauseated but Hershey's seems greasy to me as if it's 80% lard, I like to savor my choco,allowing it to melt slowly as I eat a bar and Hersheys has the wrong texture for me. Maybe im just hard to please.

M. Monkeys-do-that,-yes-they-do Bailey
In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, Isa30:15

User avatar
call_copse
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 668
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 2009 7:42 am
Location: Southampton

Re: Chocolate

Postby call_copse » Wed Dec 03, 2014 8:22 am

No, sorry folks, I did realise it wasn't quite right, but I was trying to imply slightly more politely (an effort now abandoned) that it has a strong hint of vomit (which is in the taste also for me). Is there even a way to say that similar to my original phrasing?

I do realise people have different olfactory strengths - famously many find brussel sprouts unpleasant, they are fine by me, I dislike camembert on such grounds whilst liking brie for example.
Iain

misterdoe
Senior Lexiterian
Posts: 619
Joined: Fri Mar 13, 2009 10:21 am
Location: New York City area
Contact:

Re: Chocolate

Postby misterdoe » Wed Jun 03, 2015 1:59 pm

I prefer dark chocolate myself, but not bitter. Milk chocolate feels... slimy to me. :? I like some white chocolate as well, though some say that shouldn't really be called chocolate since it has little or no cacao in it. A friend actually said, when I reposted someone else's comments on white chocolate, that "it's not really chocolate, it's only passing." :)


Return to “Good Word Discussion”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 50 guests