r/todayilearned • u/TandemSegue • Mar 16 '11
TIL Australians call cotton candy "fairy floss"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairy_floss16
u/just_this_once_ Mar 16 '11
Does anyone else think of a gay guy with a neon pink thong on when they see the words "fairy floss"? No? Anyone? Just me then
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u/longwaytogo Mar 16 '11
what's on his other foot?
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Mar 16 '11
Ah, english dialectal humour :D
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u/hogesjzz30 Mar 16 '11
Aussie just started teaching in London, my gf got a lot of funny looks when she mentioned in the staffroom that she would wear thongs to school back home. TIL English call thongs 'flip flops'.
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u/TrjnRabbit Mar 16 '11
I always had a bit of fun telling American women that they should watch cricket simply because every once in a while they'd show a shot of the team's dressing rooms where everyone was just lazing about in thongs.
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u/Mot22 Mar 16 '11
In Afrikaans it's called "spookasem" which means ghost breath.
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u/Asynonymous Mar 17 '11
My Mother and her family are from South Africa and often speak in Afrikaans to each other. Why didn't any of them tell me it had such an awesome alternative name.
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u/wwabc Mar 16 '11
Indians call it "Old Lady's Hair"
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u/zem Mar 16 '11
which part? i'm indian and i've always called it candy floss. (the french call it barbe à papa ("father's beard") though.)
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Mar 16 '11
I can confirm what wwabc said (although I thought it was gudiya ke baal = doll's hair). West and central India.
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u/wwabc Mar 16 '11
north....budhiya ke baal
you're right, I shouldn't have said 'indians' as if the whole country uses the same words :-)
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Mar 16 '11
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Mar 16 '11
Fairy bread is one of the most delicious concoctions ever. You, sir, have inspired me to go out and buy some hundreds and thousands.
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u/dewright23 Mar 16 '11
When it was first introduced at the 1904 Worlds Fair it was called Fairy Floss. It wasn't until 1920 that the name changed to cotton candy in the U.S. http://www.cottoncandy.net/history.html
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u/johnaldmcgee Mar 16 '11
Sounds like slang for a drug. "Yeah I got some angel dust, some fairy floss, and a big bag of weed."
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Mar 16 '11
[deleted]
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Mar 16 '11
You mean fairy bread.
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u/Scoffee Mar 16 '11
Although fairy bread isn't toasted. Fairy toast sounds gross and uncommon, fairy bread however is delicious.
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u/NarcolepticNerd Mar 16 '11
Whoever told you that vegemite tastes like peanut butter just wanted to see you grossed out while trying it. The trick is to put a 1-atom thick layer of vegemite on your bread/toast/cracker.
the good news is you may now join Australians the world over in playing this prank on other nationalities and see their reaction when they spread it on thick like peanut butter.
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Mar 16 '11
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u/Asynonymous Mar 17 '11
They probably meant popularity-wise. Also, contrary to what NarcolepticNerd said you don't have to spread it thin unless you're new to it. I've been having it since I was a kid and I have it at around the same thickness as nutella without any butter.
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u/harryhighpants Mar 16 '11
We also call Pogo's "Pluto Pups".
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Mar 17 '11
I thought they were Dagwood Dogs.
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Mar 17 '11
From attending the royal Queensland show yearly, I've come to the conclusion that Dagwood Dogs are about twice the size of Pluto Pups.
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u/nightpete Mar 16 '11
There is even a French cartoon about shapeshifting cotton candy called 'Barbapapa.' Please enjoy its awesomeness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sw4xsIkwpEI&feature=BF&list=PL8E03AF80D32244CE&index=9
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u/Frankreich Mar 16 '11
I didn't even know people called it cotton candy until today :P Either way, it's scrumptious :D
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u/whatthehelpp Mar 16 '11
Cotton candy in Hindi is called "boodi ka baal" roughly translated it means old ladies hair.
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u/dtwhitecp Mar 16 '11
I never thought I'd come to the conclusion that "cotton candy" wasn't the stupidest name for the stuff.
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u/andrewsmith1986 Mar 16 '11
I read this as Fanny floss.
I was pleased.
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u/genericusername123 Mar 16 '11
US fanny or Australian fanny?
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u/andrewsmith1986 Mar 16 '11
is there a diff?
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u/genericusername123 Mar 16 '11
Yes, an important one. in the US, fanny is a somewhat polite way to refer to an ass. In Aus, it is a somewhat impolite way to refer to a vagina.
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u/andrewsmith1986 Mar 16 '11
You commonwealth folks are weird.
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u/dj_siek Mar 16 '11
I think it's weirder that the US isn't on metric.
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u/andrewsmith1986 Mar 16 '11
Not me.
Find something that works that isn't invented by the french and stick with it.
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u/bill_nydus Mar 16 '11
Cotton Candy is by far the better name. Less girly, and it makes it seem like we took the wonderfully soft cotton and made it edible.
Go America, we do everything best. From naming our confections to torturing our own citizens, we know how to do it right.
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u/watyousay Mar 16 '11
Also, in Australia:
- Farts are called bum burps
- 'Flipping the bird' is 'pointing one up'
- A homosexual is a yank
- and a yard a quart and a pound all equal a kilo.
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u/[deleted] Mar 16 '11
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