Lace

Lace (pronounced leys)

(1) A net-like, delicate & ornamental fabric made of threads by hand or machine and formed historically from cotton or silk (modern forms also using synthetics), woven almost always in an open web of symmetrical patterns and figures .

(2) A cord or string for holding or drawing together (shoes, garments, protective coverings etc) as when passed through holes in opposite edges.

(3) An ornamental cord or braid, especially of gold or silver, used to decorate military and other uniforms, hats etc.

(4) A small amount of alcoholic liquor or other substance added to food or drink.

(5) A snare or gin, especially one made of interwoven cords; a net.

(6) In the illicit drug trade, to add a (usually) small quantity of another substance to that being offered for sale (also sometimes deliberately undertaken by users for various purposes).

(7) To fasten, draw together, or compress by or as if by means of a lace.

(8) To pass (a cord, leather strip etc) through holes usually intended for the purpose.

(9) To interlace or intertwine.

(10) For decorative purposes, to adorn or trim with lace.

(11) To lash, beat, or thrash.

(12) To compress the waist of a person by drawing tight the laces of a corset (used descriptively with undergarments like shapewear which don’t use laces).

(13) To mark or streak, as with color.

(14) To be fastened with a lace:

(15) To attack (usually verbally but the term is rarely applied to physical violence), often in the form “laced into”.

(16) As the acronym LACE, Used variously including the liquid air cycle engine (a propulsion engine used in space travel), the Luton Analogue Computing Engine (a computer used by the UK military) and the Lunar Atmospheric Composition Experiment (a research project conducted on the final Apollo Moon mission).

1175–1225: From the Middle English noun lace, laace, laz & las (cord made of braided or interwoven strands of silk etc), from the Old French laz & las (a net, noose, string, cord, tie, ribbon, or snare), from the Vulgar Latin lacium & laceum, from the Classical Latin laqueum from laqueus (a noose or snare).  The Latin was the source also of the Italian laccio, the Spanish lazo and the English lasso, a trapping and hunting term, probably from the Italic base laq- (to ensnare) and thus comparable with the Latin lacere (to entice).  The verb was from the Middle English lasen & lacen, from the Old & Middle French lacer, lacier, lasser & lachier (which endures in Modern French as lacer), from the Latin laqueāre (to enclose in a noose, to trap).  Derived forms have been coined as required including enlace, lace-up, lacemaker, laceman, self-lacing, unlace, re-laced & well-laced although de-laced seems to be exclusive to the IT industry where it has a specific application in video displays (interlaced, non-interlaced and all that).  Lace is a noun & verb; lacer & laciness are nouns, lacing is a verb, lacelike & lacy are adjectives and laced is a verb & adjective; the noun plural is laces.

Vulcan Surprising Venus and Mars in Bed before an Assembly of the Gods (1679), oil on canvas by Johann Heiss (1640-1704).

The metal net weaved by the god Vulcan was in Renaissance art called “Vulcan’s lace”, reflecting the general use to describe snares, fish nets etc and vividly it was described in both the Odyssey (the Greek text from the eighth or seventh century BC attributed to Homer) and Ovid's (the Roman poet Publius Ovidius Naso; 43 BC–17 AD) Metamorphoses (Transformations; 8 AD).  In mythology, the god Helios had happened upon the gods Venus and Mars in a passionate, adulterous liaison and he rushed to inform god Vulcan of his wife's faithlessness.  Enraged, Vulcan forged a net of bronze so fine it was invisible to the naked eye and carefully he place the lace over Venus’ bed so he could entrap the lustful pair at their next tryst.  It didn’t take long and thus ensnared, Vulcan called upon all of the other Olympians to witness the scene, the cuckolded Vulcan making his case before his peers.

Train of lace wedding gown.

Because of the method of construction, the word lace evolved by the turn of the fourteenth century to describe “a net, noose or snare”, simultaneously with it coming to mean “a piece of cord used to draw together the edges of slits or openings in an article of clothing”, a concept which survives in the modern shoelace although in Middle English it was used most frequently in the sense of “a cord or thread used particularly to bind or tie”.  It was used of fishing lines and (especially poetically) of the hangman’s rope and noose, the struts and beams used in architecture, and in the sixteenth century “death's lace” was the icy grip said to envelop the dying while “love’s lace” was the romantic feeling said to cloak youth enchanted with each other.  By the 1540s, improved technology meant increased production of “ornamental cords & braids” which influenced the meaning “fabric of fine threads in a patterned ornamental open net” becoming the predominant use of the English word and the trend continued because by the late nineteenth century a review of catalogues revealed dozens of varieties of commercially available lace.  Noted first in 1928 was an interesting use of “lace-curtain” as a piece of class snobbery; it meant “middle class” (or “lower-class with middle-class pretensions”) although in US cities, it was often used of Irish-Americans, so it may also be thought both an ethnic and anti-Catholic slur.

Casting a practiced eye: Lindsay Lohan assessing a lace-up boot.

The verb developed from the noun and emerged so closely most etymologists consider it a concurrent form, the original sense being “fasten clothing etc with laces and ties”, a direct adoption of the sense of the Old French lacier “entwine, interlace, fasten with laces, lace on; entrap, ensnare” developed from the noun las or laz (net, noose, string, cord).  From the early fourteenth century it was oral shorthand meaning “tighten (a garment) by pulling its laces” and by at least the late sixteenth century (though probably earlier) it conveyed the idea of “adorning with lace”, applied both to furniture and fashion.  The meaning “to intermix (one’s coffee etc.) with a dash of liquor (typically brandy or whisky)” emerged in the 1670s, a product doubtlessly of the spike in popularity of coffee houses.  That sense was originally used also of sugar (from the notion of “to ornament or trim something with lace” while the meaning “beat, lash, mark with the lash” dates from the 1590s, the idea being the pattern of streaks left by the lash; from the early nineteenth century this idea was extended also to verbal assaults (usually as “laced into).  With his punctilious attention to such things, Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) in his A Dictionary of the English Language (1755) noted “laced mutton” was “an old word for a whore”.  The most enduring use is probably the shoelace (also as shoe-lace although the old form “shoe string” seems to be extinct except in idiomatic use) meaning the “length of lace used to draw together and fasten the sides of a shoe via eyelets”, the noun dating from the 1640s.  Also extinct is another older word for the thong or lace of a shoe or boot: the Middle English sho-thong which was from the Old English scoh-þwang.

Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991, left) and Jane Birkin (1946–2023, right), Artists Union Gala, Paris, France, 25 April, 1969.

Within three days of Ms Birkin being photographed in her remarkable lace dress, Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970; President of France 1959-1969) had resigned, Le Président choosing to leave the Élysée Palace despite his party in the 1968 parliamentary election have secured a large majority.  Although the pretext for his resignation was the rejection in a national referendum of his proposed constitutional reforms, his popularity never recovered after criticism of his reaction to the mass demonstrations of May 1968.  As well as wearing memorable outfits, Ms Birkin is remembered for the Birkin Bag manufactured since 1984 by the French fashion house Hermès.  Because of its untypical evolution, the Birkin bag (better known as “the Birkin”) came to be of interest both to economists as well as fashionistas.

Bella Hadid (b 1996) in Schiaparelli Haute Couture gown, an homage to the creation worn by Jane Birkin in 1969, Cannes Film Festival, May 2026.

In a charming coincidence, Ms Hadid’s appearance on the festival’s red carpet was for the premiere La Bataille De Gaulle: L'Âge De Fer (De Gaulle: Tilting Iron).  As in 1969, the dress featured a deep plunging neckline extending below the navel, a strategically positioned black embellishment holding things together to the extent required.  Constructed wholly of sheer lace, Schiaparelli said the garment reflected the “work and expertise of 130 artisans” who devoted a collective “22,160 hours of embroidery”.  There was a corset back with a large black bow at the neckline and the sense of déjà-vu has a quirky origin, Ms Birkin’s piece 1969 actually a “backless dress” worn back-to-front, the deeply scalloped backline transformed into what in 1969 was a daring low cut, the black floral brooch at the waist drawing together the two sides.

1997 Toyota Century V12.

Cars sold on the Japanese domestic market (JDM) are famous for being often adorned with what are known as Japanese car seat doilies.  While most are mass produced from modern synthetics and appear in things like taxis, some used in up-market cars are genuine hand-made lace.  Interestingly, while Toyota created the Lexus brand because of the perceived “prestige deficit” suffered by the Toyota name in overseas markets, for decades the Century (sold mostly only in the JDM) has been supplied to the Imperial household.  Although there are indications preferences are beginning to shift, while a number of manufacturers have offered leather interiors for the JDM, buyers traditionally have preferred cloth.

Lindsay Lohan in lace top, 2004.

The adjective lace-up dates (adj.) from 1831 and was originally a cobblers’ description of boots, directly from the verbal phrase “lace up”; in the mid-twentieth century it was re-purposed in the form “laced-up” to imply someone was “repressed, overly conservative and restricted in their attitudes” the notion being of someone (a woman of course” who never “loosened her stays” with all that implies, the significance being the use emerged decades after corsets had ceased to be worn, the suggestion being a throwback to what were imagined to be Victorian (nineteenth century) attitudes towards personal morality.  This adaptation of lace wasn’t entirely new.  The early fifteenth century adjective “strait-laced” referenced stays or bodices “made close and tight” which was originally purely descriptive but soon came to be adopted figuratively to suggest someone “over-precise, prudish, strict in manners or morals”.  The adjective lacy (which differs from lace-like in that the former references extent, the latter resemblance) and dates from 1804; it’s wholly unrelated to the given name Lacey (which although technically gender-neutral is now conferred predominately on girls and was of Old French origin meaning “from Lacy (or Lassy)” and was originally the surname of French noblemen, the De Lasi, from the Normandy region; it reached the British Isles during the Norman conquest (1066).  The trade of laceman (one who deals in laces) was known since the 1660s while the necklace (a flexible ornament worn round the neck) was first so-described in the 1580s although such things had been worn by both men & women for thousands of years.  A gruesome use emerged in Apartheid era South Africa during the 1980s where “necklacing” was a form of extrajudicial summary execution which involved drenching a car tyre in a mixture of oil and petrol (or pure diesel) and forcing it around a victim's chest and arms, then setting it alight.  Although never officially condoned by the ANC (African National Congress), it was widely used in black townships as a form of public execution of black Africans suspected of collaborating with the white minority government.  Victims were said to have been “necklaced” and the practice spread elsewhere in Africa, to South Asia and the Caribbean.

Real Housemom’s Irish Coffee Royale

Ingredients

2 oz brandy or cognac
2 oz Irish cream
4 oz brewed coffee (served strong)
Granulated sugar crystals (optional and nor recommended)

Instructions

Warm brandy and Irish cream in small saucepan over low heat, then combine with coffee.  A small amount of sugar can be added but there is sweetness in the Irish cream and the sugar tends to detract from the taste.  The difference between an Irish coffee and a coffee royale is that the former is laced with Irish Whiskey, the latter with brandy or cognac.

Manhattan

Manhattan (pronounced man-hat-n or muhn-hat-n)

(1) An island in New York City (NYC) surrounded by the Hudson, East and Harlem rivers, 13½ miles (22 km) in length, 2½ miles (4 km) across at its widest and 22¼ square miles (58 km² in area).  Technically, it’s an ellipsis of Manhattan Island and in certain legal documents, cartography and for formal purposes it’s described also as Manhattan Island.

(2) One of the five boroughs of New York City, approximately co-extensive with Manhattan Island and coterminous with New York County.  It contains the business district of NYC, its financial centre (Wall Street, the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) etc and many of the businesses associated with the fashion industry (Fifth Avenue and environs) and the art business (Greenwich Village).

(3) A cocktail drink consisting of four parts whisky, one part vermouth, and a dash of bitters.

Pre 1600: From the earlier Manna-hata (recorded by Dutch settlers & military personnel), from its name in Unami, the Algonquian language of the Lenape people (self-described as Lenni-Lenape (the original people)) who were the island’s inhabitants when European settlement began.  The research by linguistic anthropologists was inconclusive and there are a number of suggestions regarding the origin of the name: (1) a compound of the Unami mënatay (island) or the Munsee munahan + another element; (2) because the island was once a wooded area with Hickory trees yielding timber suitable for making bows, the early forms Manna-hatta & Mannahachtink were spellings of manaháhtaan (place for gathering the wood to make bows) with the related locative form being manaháhteenk, the construct thus Munsee manah- (gather) + -aht (bow) + -aan (place); (3) the “island of many hills” & (4) “the island where we all became intoxicated”.  Manhattan is a noun & proper noun, manhattanite & manhattanese are adjectives, manhattanism is a noun, manhattanize manhattanizing & manhattanized are verbs and manhattanism & manhattanism are nouns; the noun plural is manhattans.  Modern style guides suggest that even when forms are derived from the proper noun, there’s no need for an initial capital although traditionalists will insist.

What is now New York’s borough of Manhattan was in 1626 named New Amsterdam by colonists from the Dutch Republic who, two years earlier, had established a trading post (in what is now Lower Manhattan).  After some of the squabbles and negotiations during which Europeans re-drew the maps which reflect their arrangements even today, the territory and its surroundings in 1664 came under English control in 1664 and the city, based on Manhattan, was the capital of the United States between 1785-1790.  Although the exact date on which “Manhattan” became the common descriptor for the island among Europeans, the consensus is it would have been sometime in the mid-seventeenth century.  The cocktail named Manhattan was certainly being served in the 1870s but why it gained the name or just when the first was mixed isn’t known although there are a number of imaginative tales, none supported by evidence.  What is thought most likely is that it was either served in an establishment in the locality or somewhere close seeking to trade of the association with the name.

Lilo in Soho: The Manhattan apartment where Lindsay Lohan lived in 2013, Mercer Street, Soho.

The standard adjective is Manhattanite (of or from, Manhattan) which replaced the earlier Manhattanese which, although obsolete, is sometime still used as a jocular term (to describe a certain style of speck thought associated with financial traders although it was a hardly distinct form).  The noun Manhattanism (the style of architecture and urban design associated with skyscrapers to enable high population densities in a limited space) was a coining of architectural criticism, the companion verbs being Manhattanize, Manhattanizing & Manhattanized; the process was Manhattanization.  In architectural criticism, Manhattanization was something neither wholly good or bad and depended for its reception on where it was used.  Where it was appropriate and added to urban utility, it would be praised if done well but where it destroyed something of social or architectural value, it was derided.

The Manhattan Project's second detonation of an atomic bomb: the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima, 6 August 1945.

The Manhattan Project which developed the first atomic weapons was so-named because the army component of the operation was under the control of the engineering branch and it was the army which was most involved in the initial planning stages which involved the acquisition of land and the physical building of the facilities which would house the research and production staff.  The army’s original project name was “Manhattan Engineer District” simply because that was where their offices were located and, apparently because the US Postal Service used the same name for the workshops of its telephone technicians, it was decided was “Manhattan Engineer District” would be a suitably vague codename and one unlikely to attract attention.  It thus replaced the earlier US A-bomb code name (Development of Substitute Materials) and absorbed the earlier British research project (Tube Alloys).

The Manhattan cocktail

Some cocktails are intimidating not because of what they are but because of what’s involved in their preparation, thus the attraction of the Manhattan cocktail which is easy-to-make drink and needs but three ingredients: whiskey, sweet Vermouth and aromatic bitters.

Ingredients

(1) 2 oz Whiskey: A Manhattan can be made with either Rye or Bourbon, most historically preferring Rye Whiskey because it’s thought to be “spicier”.

(2) 1 oz Sweet Vermouth: Vermouth has something of an aura because it’s vital to both Manhattans and Martinis but it’s just a flavored and fortified wine and it’s the harmonious interaction Rye and Sweet Vermouth which accounts for most choosing Rye.  The garnishing of a Manhattan with a brandied or Maraschino cherry is optional.

(3) 2 dashes Angostura aromatic bitters: A timeless classic and an aromatic, alcoholic infusions of various herbs and spices, neither the recipe or the distinctive oversized label have changed for well over a century.  One drop is so potent it can alter the character of anything to which it’s added and some even recommend a dash in fruit salad (the other faction advocating a few drops of Tabasco sauce for “sharpness”).

Instructions

(1) Chill a champagne coupe, martin glass or a lowball in the freezer or fill it with ice.

(2) Add all ingredients into a mixing glass filled with ice and stir until the drink is chilled. Typically, that takes no more than 20-30 seconds depending on the temperature of the ingredients and the nature of the ice.  A Manhattan must only ever be stirred; they are never shaken.

(3) Strain the drink into the chilled (and empty) Nick & Nora glass and (optionally) garnish the drink with a Maraschino cherry speared on a cocktail stick.

Purists like to stick to the classics but variations of the Manhattan have over the years been concocted:

A Black Manhattan replaces the Sweet Vermouth with Averna Amaro, a complex liqueur which delivers an aromatic experience.  It’s one of those drinks which need to be breathed in for some time before drinking.

In a Dry Manhattan, Dry Vermouth is used.  Most find it an acquired taste and described it as a “harder” drink,

The Rob Roy is known by some as the Scotch Manhattan and obviously, instead of Bourbon or Rye, it’s made on a Scotch Whisky base.  The aficionados of this kink seem all to recommend a blended Scotch rather than a pure malt.

The “perfect” in a Perfect Manhattan uses the word in its mathematical sense, the recipe calling for a 50/50 split between Dry & Sweet Vermouth.  The difference is said to be “very nuanced” and the choice of whiskey will notably change the experience.

First We Take Manhattan (1986) by Leonard Cohen

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom

For tryin' to change the system from within

I'm coming now, I'm coming to reward them

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

 

I'm guided by a signal in the heavens

I'm guided by this birthmark on my skin

I'm guided by the beauty of our weapons

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

 

I'd really like to live beside you, baby

I love your body and your spirit and your clothes

But you see that line there moving through the station?

I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

 

Ah you loved me as a loser, but now you're worried that I just might win

You know the way to stop me, but you don't have the discipline

How many nights I prayed for this, to let my work begin

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

 

I don't like your fashion business, mister

And I don't like these drugs that keep you thin

I don't like what happened to my sister

First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

 

I'd really like to live beside you, baby

I love your body and your spirit and your clothes

But you see that line there moving through the station?

I told you, I told you, told you, I was one of those

Of politics taken to its logical “other means” conclusion: First We Take Manhattan performed by Jennifer Warnes (b 1947), from the Album Famous Blue Raincoat (1986).

It was during the last years of the Cold War Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (1934-2016) wrote First We Take Manhattan (1986), the lyrics of which were open to interpretation but clarified in 1988 by the author who explained: “I think it means exactly what it says.  It is a terrorist song.  I think it's a response to terrorism.  There's something about terrorism that I've always admired.  The fact that there are no alibis or no compromises.  That position is always very attractive.”   Even in 1988 it was a controversial comment because by then not many outside of undergraduate anarchist societies were still romanticizing terrorists but in fairness to the singer the coda isn’t as often published: “I don't like it when it's manifested on the physical plane – I don't really enjoy the terrorist activities – but Psychic Terrorism.”

Whisk

Whisk (pronounced wisk or hwisk)

(1) To move with a rapid, sweeping stroke.

(2) To sweep (dust, crumbs etc, or a surface) with a whisk broom, brush, or the like.

(3) To draw, snatch or carry etc; a generalized term meaning to move or do something nimbly or rapidly (often as “whisked away”, “whisked off” etc).

(4) To whip (eggs, cream etc.) to a froth using a whisk or other beating device.

(5) The an act of whisking; a rapid, sweeping stroke; light, rapid movement.

(6) As whisk broom, a device topped with a small cluster of grass, straw, hair or the like, used especially for brushing.

(7) A kitchen utensil, in the form of a bunch of (usually metal wire, plastic strands or (in the Far East) bamboo) loops held together in a handle and used for beating, blending or whipping eggs, cream; making souffles etc.  Modern whisks can also be electro-mechanical and “non-stick” whisks use a Teflon coating.

(8) The by-product of something which has been “whisked away”.

(9) A special plane used by coopers for evening a barrel’s chimes (the curved, outermost edge or rim at the top and bottom ends of the barrel, typically wider and thicker than the rest of the staves (the vertical wooden planks that form the sides)).

(10) In fashion, a kind of cape forming part of a woman's dress (sometimes detachable).

(11) In some card games, the act of sweeping the cards off the table after a trick has been won.

1325–1375: From the Middle English & Scots wysk (rapid sweeping movement), from the earlier Scots verbs wisk & quhisk, from the Old English wiscian (to plait) & weoxian (to clean with brush), from a Scandinavian source comparable to the Old Norse & Norwegian visk (wisp), the Swedish viska besom & wisp (to whisk (off)) and the Danish visk & viske (to wipe, rub, sponge) and related to the Middle Dutch wisch, the Dutch wis, the Old High German wisken (to wipe) & wisc (wisp of hay), the German Wisch, the Latin virga (rod, switch) & viscus (entrails), the Czech vechet (a wisp of straw), the Lithuanian vizgéti (to tremble), the Czech vechet (wisp of straw) and the Sanskrit वेष्क (veṣka) (noose) all thought from the Proto-Germanic wiskaz & wiskō (bundle of hay, wisp), from the primitive Indo-European weys- or weis (to turn; to twist).  The un-etymological wh-, noted since the 1570s, probably developed because it was expressive of the sound typically generated by the act of “whisking” something; the same evolution was noted in whip and the onomatopoeic whack and whoosh.  The device used in preparing food (implement for beating eggs etc) was first documented as “a whisk” in the 1660s although cooks had presumably been using such things for many years.  The verb developed in the late fifteenth century, the transitive sense from the 1510s while the familiar meaning “to brush or sweep (something) lightly over a surface” dates from the 1620s.  Whisk & whisking are nouns & verbs and whisked is a verb; the noun plural is whisks.

Variations on a theme of whisk.

Whisk is (almost) wholly unrelated to whisky & whiskey.  Dating from 1715, whisky was a variant of usque,an abbreviation of usquebaugh, from the Irish uisce beatha (water of life) or the Scots Gaelic uisge-beatha (water of life), ultimately a translation of the Medieval Latin aqua vītae (water of life (originally an alchemical term for unrefined alcohol)).  The form whiskybae has been obsolete since the mid eighteenth century.  The Scots and Irish forms were from the Proto-Celtic udenskyos (water) + biwotos (life), from biwos(alive).  The Old Irish uisce (water) was from the primitive Indo-European ud-skio-, a suffixed form of the root wed- (water; wet); bethu (life), from the primitive Indo-European gwi-wo-tut-, a suffixed form of gwi-wo-, from the root gwei- (to live). The noun plurals are whiskies & whiskeys.  Although iskie bae had been known in the 1580s, it appears unrelated to usquebea (1706), the common form of which was uisge beatha which in 1715 became usquebaugh, then whiskeybaugh & whiskybae, the most familiar phonetic form of which evolved as “usky”, influencing the final spellings which remain whisky & whiskey.  Wisely, the Russians avoided the linguistic treadmill, the unchanging vodka freely translated as “little water”.  The exception was the “whisky”, a small carriage (technically a “light gig” to coach-builders) which was from the verb whisk, the idea being something in which one was “whisked quickly around” the lightweight carriages being faster than most.  Chefs also caution home cooks not to confuse “whisky butter” (A concoction made of whisky, butter & sugar) with “whisked butter” which is butter which has been whisked.

Lindsay Lohan Oreos

Lindsay Lohan in The Parent Trap (1998).

Whether it was already something widely practiced isn’t known but Lindsay Lohan is credited with introducing to the world the culinary novelty Oreos & peanut butter in The Parent Trap.  According to the director, it was added to the script “…for no reason other than it sounded weird and some cute kid would do it."  Like some other weirdnesses, the combination has a cult following and for those who enjoy peanut butter but suffer arachibutyrophobia (the morbid fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of one’s mouth), Tastemade have provided a recipe for Lindsay Lohan-style Oreos with a preparation time (including whisking) of 2 hours.  They take 20 minutes to cook and in this mix there are 8 servings (scale ingredients up to increase the number of servings).

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (plus more for dusting)
¾ teaspoon kosher salt
1 ¼ cups unsalted butter (at room temperature)
¾ cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar, for dusting

Filling Ingredients

½ cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
¼ cup unsweetened smooth peanut butter
1 ½ cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A pinch of kosher salt (omit if using salted peanut butter)

Filling Instructions

(1) With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, the butter & peanut butter until creamy.

(2) Gradually add powdered sugar and beat to combine, then beat in vanilla and salt.

Whisking the mix.

Instructions

(1) Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

(2) In small bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder & salt.

(3) In a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Mix in the vanilla extract. With the mixer running on low speed, add the flour mixture and beat until just combined (it should remain somewhat crumbly).

(4) Pour mixture onto a work surface and knead until it’s “all together”; wrap half in plastic wrap and place in refrigerator.

(5) Lightly dust surface and the top of the dough with a 1:1 mixture of cocoa powder and powdered sugar.

(6) Working swiftly and carefully, roll out dough to a ¼-½ inch (6-12 mm) thickness and cut out 2 inch (50 mm) rounds.  Transfer them to the baking sheets, 1 inch (25 mm) apart (using a small offset spatula helps with this step). Re-roll scraps and cut out more rounds, the repeat with remaining half of the dough.

(7) Bake cookies until the tops are no longer shiny ( about 20 minutes), then cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to wire rack completely to cool.

(8) To assemble, place half the cookies on a plate or work surface.

(9) Pipe a blob of filling (about 2 teaspoons) onto the tops of each of these cookies and then place another cookie on top, pressing slightly but not to the extent filled oozes from the sides.

(10) Refrigerate for a few minutes to allow the filling to firm up.  Store in an air-tight container in refrigerator.

The manufacturer embraced the idea of peanut butter Oreos and has released versions, both with the classic cookie and a peanut butter & jelly (jam) variation paired with its “golden wafers”.  As well as Lindsay Lohan’s contribution, Oreos have attracted the interest of mathematicians.  Nabisco in 1974 introduced the Double Stuf Oreo, the clear implication being a promise the variety contained twice crème filling supplied in the original.  However, a mathematician undertook the research and determined Double Stuf Oreos contained only 1.86 times the volume of filling of a standard Oreo.  Despite that, the company survived the scandal and the Double Stuf Oreo’s recipe wasn’t adjusted.

Scandalous in its own way was that an April 2022 research paper published in the journal Physics of Fluids wasn’t awarded that year’s Ig Nobel Prize for physics, the honor taken by Frank Fish, Zhi-Ming Yuan, Minglu Chen, Laibing Jia, Chunyan Ji & Atilla Incecik, for their admittedly ground-breaking (or perhaps water-breaking) work in explaining how ducklings manage to swim in formation.  More deserving surely were Crystal Owens, Max Fan, John Hart & Gareth McKinley who introduced to physics the discipline of Oreology (the construct being Oreo + (o)logy).  The suffix -ology was formed from -o- (as an interconsonantal vowel) +‎ -logy.  The origin in English of the -logy suffix lies with loanwords from the Ancient Greek, usually via Latin and French, where the suffix (-λογία) is an integral part of the word loaned (eg astrology from astrologia) since the sixteenth century.  French picked up -logie from the Latin -logia, from the Ancient Greek -λογία (-logía).  Within Greek, the suffix is an -ία (-ía) abstract from λόγος (lógos) (account, explanation, narrative), and that a verbal noun from λέγω (légō) (I say, speak, converse, tell a story).  In English the suffix became extraordinarily productive, used notably to form names of sciences or disciplines of study, analogous to the names traditionally borrowed from the Latin (eg astrology from astrologia; geology from geologia) and by the late eighteenth century, the practice (despite the disapproval of the pedants) extended to terms with no connection to Greek or Latin such as those building on French or German bases (eg insectology (1766) after the French insectologie; terminology (1801) after the German Terminologie).  Within a few decades of the intrusion of modern languages, combinations emerged using English terms (eg undergroundology (1820); hatology (1837)).  In this evolution, the development may be though similar to the latter-day proliferation of “-isms” (fascism; feminism etc).  Oreology is the study of the flow and fracture of sandwich cookies and the research proved it is impossible to split the cream filling of an Oreo cookie down the middle.

An Oreo on a rheometer.

The core finding in Oreology was that the filling always adheres to one side of the wafer, no matter how quickly one or both cookies are twisted.  Using a rheometer (a laboratory instrument used to measure the way in which a viscous fluid (a liquid, suspension or slurry) flows in response to applied forces), it was determined creme distribution upon cookie separation by torsional rotation is not a function of rate of rotation, creme filling height level, or flavor, but was mostly determined by the pre-existing level of adhesion between the creme and each wafer.  The research also noted that were there changes to the composition of the filling (such as the inclusion of peanut butter) would influence the change from adhesive to cohesive failure and presumably the specifics of the peanut butter chosen (smooth, crunchy, extra-crunchy, un-salted (although the organic varieties should behave in a similar way to their mass-market equivalents)) would have some effect because the fluid dynamics would change.  The expected extent of the change would be appear to be slight but until further research is performed, this can’t be confirmed.  The 33rd First Annual Ig Nobel Prize ceremony will (as a webcast) happen on Thursday 14 September 2023, at 18:00 pm (US eastern time).

Dipsomaniac

Dipsomaniac (pronounced dip-suh-mey-nee-ak or dip-soh-mey-nee-ak)

(1) One with a morbid paroxysmal craving for alcohol; a person with an irresistible craving for alcoholic drink.

(2) In informal use, a persistently drunken person; a drunkard.

(3) In informal use, an alcoholic (technically and clinically incorrect)

1843:  A compound word, the construct being dipso-, from the Ancient Greek δίψα (dípsa) (thirst) +‎ maniac, from the French maniaque, from the Late Latin maniacus, from the Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós), the adjectival form of μανία (manía) (madness)).  The slang shortening dipso is from 1880.  In casual use, those with an excessive fondness for strong drink attract many labels: alcoholic, sponge, lush, inebriate, boozer, sot, bum, drinker, drunkard, hobo, carouser, guzzler, dipsomaniac, souse, wino, bacchanal, soak, tippler, stiff, debauchee.  Dipsomaniac & dipsomania are nouns and dipsomaniacal is an adjective; the noun plural is dipsomaniacs.

Dipsomaniacs and alcoholics

In medicine and related fields, clinicians distinguish between the dipsomaniac and the alcoholic.  Alcoholism is an addiction or a dependency on alcohol, the word alcoholism coming from the Medieval Latin alcoholisms, coined by Swedish physician Professor Magnus Huss (1807–1890) in his 1849 essay Alcoholismus Chronicus although Dr Huss used the word to describe an condition today called alcohol poisoning rather than the condition of alcoholism .  At this time, alcoholism was labeled as "habitual drunkenness" or some similar term, reflecting the pre-modern attitude that it was a weakness of character or the result of bad upbringing rather than anything chemical and thus an illness.  Dipsomania is characterized by periodic bouts of uncontrollable craving for alcohol but alcoholism and dipsomania are not interchangeable; dipsomania describing a form of consumption that includes periods of sobriety as well as of drunkenness.  There’s a bit of overlap between the two and some certainly progress from one to the other but in the clinical sense, there are differences.  While it’s possible for the true alcoholic to stop drinking, they don’t cease to be an alcoholic, they become a sober one whereas if a dipsomaniac stops drinking, they cease to be a dipsomaniac.

The top 25 (2018): Despite it's stellar reputation, Australia really needs to try harder.

As an interesting etymological point, alcohol, although a borrowing from Medieval Latin, was originally from the Arabic and entered first into the technical jargon of European alchemists and apothecaries before being adopted for general English use.  It became common in English during the 1500s through two forks, one from Spanish, one from French.  There’s some dispute between scholars about the Arabic origin but the most popular suggests the ultimate root was the classical Arabic اَلْغَوْل‎ (al-ḡawl) or غَوْل‎ (ḡawl), both of which translate as “bad effect, evil result of headache, best known from verse 37:47 in the holy Qur’an which mentions drink in which there is no "ghawl".  As well as English, the word passed to many European languages including the Italian alcoolisto, the French alcoolique, the German alkoholiker, the Spanish alcohólico and the Swedish alkoholist.

Dipsomania manifests thus as a fondness for alcoholic drinks rather than a chemical dependence, although, at the margins, the distinction can be fine and some dipsomaniacs can descend to alcoholism.  Many however spend a lifetime enjoying strong drink without ever developing a dependence although there are other concerns about the physical consequences of high or frequent consumption.  People might however be surprised at just how low is the level of consumption the health authorities recommend as being safe.  Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) recommends a “healthy adult” drink no more than 10 (ten) standard drinks every 7 (seven) days and no more than 4 (four) standard drinks per day.  Those under 18 (eighteen) should not drink at all and nor should pregnant people or those breast-feeding (believed now properly called gender-neutral “chest feeders”).  NH&MRC define a "standard drink" as any of (1) light beer (2.7% alc/vol) 425 mL, (2) mid strength beer (3.5% alc/vol) 375 mL, (3) full strength beer (4.9% alc/vol) 285 mL, (4) regular cider (4.9% alc/vol) 285 mL, (5) sparkling wine (13% alc/vol) 100 mL, (6) wine (13% alc/vol) 100 mL, (7) fortified wine (sherry, port) (20% alc/vol) 60 mL & (8) spirits (vodka, gin, rum, whiskey etc) (40% alc/vol) 30 mL.

That might surprise some who consider themselves “light” or “social” drinkers who suddenly realize that for perhaps decades they’ve been giving it a bit of a nudge just about every night and consumption by the famous is often the subject of interest, the quip about Sir Winston Churchill (1975-1965; UK prime-minister 1940-1945 & 1951-1955) not being alcoholic because “no alcoholic could possibly drink so much” has been attributed to several.  Pace NH&MRC but these things are relative and Sir Tony Blair (b 1953; UK prime-minister 1997-2007) in his earnestly written memoir (A Journey (2010) Random House, London, 624 pp, ISBN 978-0-09-192555-0) included a staccato passage admitting he was probably at least verging on the NH&MRC’s limit:

“The relationship between alcohol and Prime Ministers is a subject for a book all on its own.  By the standards of days gone by I was not even remotely a toper, and I couldn’t do lunchtime drinking except on Christmas Day, but if you took the thing everyone always lied about — units per week — I was definitely at the outer limit.  Stiff whisky or a G&T; before dinner, couple of glasses of wine or even half a bottle with it.  So not excessively excessive.  I had a limit.  But I was aware it had become a prop.  I could never work out whether for me it was, on balance a) good, because it did relax me or b) bad, because I could have been working rather than relaxing.  I came to the conclusion — conveniently you might think — that a) beat b).  I thought that escaping the pressure and relaxing was a vital part of keeping the job in proportion, a function rather like my holidays.  But I was never sure.  I believed I was in control of the alcohol.  However you have to be honest: it’s a drug, there’s no getting away from it.”

So a pre-prandial G&T dinner and two glasses of wine with the meal and no mention of being tempted by a port or cognac somewhere between the pear and the cheese.  He said he thought it “a prop” and in that he’s doubtlessly correct but many expressed surprise he drank so little given his problems (having Gordon Brown (b 1951; UK prime-minister 2007-2010) and Peter "Mandy" Mandelson (b 1953, Labour Party identity) in one’s life can’t have been easy) but perhaps it’s good someone with their own nuclear weapons wasn’t on a Yeltsinesque (Boris Yeltsin (1931-2007; President of Russia 1991-1999)) bottle of vodka a day.  Whether alcohol used as “a prop” can be thought a form of dipsomania seems debatable because, definitionally, it would seem to suggest there needs to be some sense of enjoyment in the intake regardless of any practical benefit although on this, clinicians may differ.

Some just really enjoy the taste.  Lindsay Lohan advertising the (fictitious) Japanese chewing gum Number One Happy Whiskey Chew, filmed for the TV show Anger Management, March 2013.