What do we think about the word “vanillary”?
Is its use:
- Proof that the world as we know it is hurtling ever faster towards oblivion?
- An admission of the fact that, asked to descibe something which is vanilla-flavoured, many people would use the word ‘vanilla-y’ , which is difficult to say, not really a word and, in some accents at least, pronounced ‘vanillary’ anyway?
- A spelling error.
I ask because M&S have recently launched a new range of cakes, one of which is a triple layer white chocolate and raspberry cake made up of three layers of ‘moist vanillary sponge’ (poor quality photo below)
Any thoughts?
29 April, 2009 at 12:42 pm |
The end is nigh. Mind you, I suppose it is exactly what I’d say.
Russian has a uniform way of making adjectives and when I looked up what would be Russian for vanillary, it gave me vanillic. I think I prefer the Sparksianism.
29 April, 2009 at 1:47 pm |
I prefer vanillic. Vanillary sounds to me as it should be some little used function specific room in a monastery. Maybe where they keep the vans.
29 April, 2009 at 4:40 pm |
A vanillary is a small blood vessel, except that instead of blood, it’s full of custard.
29 April, 2009 at 4:47 pm |
Tim, for that I’d become a vampire
19 May, 2009 at 1:40 pm |
Do they also have ‘vanillarish’ for tastes that resemble vanilla?
Oh of course, you don’t have a linking-r up there, do you? So you wouldn’t say, as a bizarre example: “I put my finger ro na norange or ra napple,’ would you? And I suppose you’d simply have The Law of Scotland, rather than our Law rof England. So ‘vanillary’ might not make much sense to rhotic speakers, I’m guessing. Right?
20 May, 2009 at 4:18 pm |
BiB: I rather liked vanillary – it has a nice homely ring to it.
GSE, I can see why you’d prefer vanillic (is it a perfumery term?) but I like the monastic angle too.
Tim, that makes me think of a huge jam doughnut heart being fed by strawberry jam veins and custard vanillaries! Mmmm, custard…
Mr D: No, Scots accents don’t have ‘intrusive’ r (‘linking’ sounds less dismissive. Is my terminology out-of-date?) generally speaking, although I think your first example would be perfectly possible. The second one wouldn’t – Scotland doesn’t recognise that famous legal female Laura Norder! ‘Vanillary’ interested me because it seemed to be an attempt to represent spoken English in a relatively formal context.
16 August, 2009 at 9:27 pm |
i dunno about vanillary but i was just thinking today how much i like ‘outdoorsy’
such a cute lil’ adjective – does what it says on the tin etc.