Fridgepronounced /FRIJ/, is a shortened form of fridge began appearing in print in the early 20th century. The word may have been spoken long before it appeared in writing. To clarify the correct pronunciation of this word, the printers added D to reflect other words with similar soft gof, such as bridge And tent.
We at Merriam-Webster have a PSA: spelling doesn’t always follow basic logic. In fact, most of the time it doesn’t.
Photo: PhonlamaiPhoto
Puzzled the kids on spelling tests for years.
How, for example, did it D ends in fridgewhen the word it’s shortened—fridge-Not available D be found? Who put? D IN fridgeand is it still good?
From the origin of the refrigerator
Artificial refrigeration was first demonstrated by William Cullen in 1748, and the earliest chillers were developed in the first half of the 19th century. fridge much older; it dates back to the early 1600s, and chilledfrom the Latin verb fridge and finally the adjective icemeaning “cold”, dating back to the last century. Frigus also gave us our adjective cold.
(It should be noted that, consistent with Latin words, ice And fridge each is pronounced with a difficulty g—ie, like g IN Good. The transition to a soft-g sound—that is, pronounced like g IN gesture-IN cold And chilled did not occur until both words were established in English and influenced by French pronunciation.)
As refrigerators became commonplace in households, it was natural to have a colloquial form of the word. fridge to drop in the vernacular.
If it is necessary for you to make another batch almost immediately, the mixture can be grated into a bowl and placed in the “refrigerator”, or it can even be placed in your ice cream compartments. “freezing shelf;” However, whatever is done, must be stirred well to avoid freezing. — farmNo. 1214, 1939
“I have a lovely room on the top floor in Montgomery Street, anyway. Not having a fridge is the only trouble. … Weather like this, of course, I leave my milk on the pedestal. window.” —Joan Colebrook, New YorkersJanuary 1, 1966
‘I had an old bomb back in those days, a Ford, an Enforcer…, window blinds, a wine fridge.” — Barry Oakley, Greetings to the great McCarthy1970
Refrigerator or Frig?
The word we pronounce \FRIJ\ appeared in the 1920s as a shortened and modified form of fridgephonetic reproduction of the second syllable in a longer word, even though the original usage is spelled out fridge.
Some writers acknowledge the mutilated nature of fridge or fridge by spelling it out with single quotes:
Luxury 1 bedroom studio has just been built in the villa grounds near Ilkley Moor. Fully equipped. including dishwasher, waste disposal, cooking pot, oven, ‘refrigerator. — Time (London), April 13, 1974
My neighbor told me she had just paid £30 for shoes and £32 for a fridge, and we discussed what this meant. — Prudence Glynn, Time (London), December 4, 1973
Our friends across the pond showed a particular interest in abbreviations. Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged Labeling fridge “mostly British”, though that was omitted.
In another generation, I assumed that “photo” would have established itself, and even “refrigerator” for “refrigerator” could have been accepted into the company that speaks good English. — John O’London’s WeeklySeptember 30, 1949
Why D?
So how did we come up with the spelling change?
As with many abbreviations, it is very likely that fridge was common in spoken English for a long time before it was used in printed writing on a regular basis. Writers who decide how to spell a word need a spelling that represents the pronunciation of the word. Simply cut the word into letters in its second syllable, fridgeproblem because words end in consonants g is pronounced with a hard-g sound: glass, homeless, piget cetera.
In fact, in English, the last sound \j\, as in \FRIJ\, is almost universally spelled with ge. When the vowel is right before the long \j\ sound, as in year old or bigNot available D; when the vowel right before \j\ is short, a D inserted, as in judgment, bridge, tentetc. It is not uncommon for words that are truncated to see new letters included in their spelling, such as in extra remuneration because permeable or potato as a dialectic way of writing potato.
short form fridge does not continue to exist as a less used variant spelling of fridge:
There are no bottles of Cristal chilled in the cold or groves of potted herbs sprouting from moss. —Richard Buckley, WApril 4-11, 1988
But English already has a spelled verb fridge—with one meaning “to rub or rub” and another with a more vulgar meaning. hobby for fridge offers a way to avoid possible misinterpretation.
So before you throw D get out fridge, you might want to ask around if it belongs to anyone first. Unless, of course, it smells Actually bad.
Categories: Usage Notes
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
