Do you know the origins of one of the world’s favorite sweet treets, the lollipop? Well neither did I, that is until my sweet friend and co-worker, Jamie, shared this information with me. I must admit, I had to look it up! And who would have thought?
What is a Lollipop?
What exactly is a lollipop? According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a lollipop is a lump or ball of hard candy on a stick. Of course we all knew that!
Lollipops are known by several other names, such as lollies and suckers. In America, the most popular name for them is suckers, outside our country they are called mostly lollipops. Some are flat round discs of hard candy, others are balls of hard candy, and some have that wonderful chocolatey, chewy candy inside the hard candy. There are even children’s hospitals that have lollipops with medicines in them for the little ones, but the one thing they have in common is the stick.
Most of us knew all about those characteristics, but did you know…
History of Lollipops
The earliest known mention of them is by Francis Grose, an English lexicographger, (one that compiles dictionaries). He recorded the word in 1796. It is believed the sweet treat gets it name from the terms “lolly” (a 17th century word for tongue) and “pop” (slap). A lollipop is another name for a tongue slap!
And now you know!
You are welcome.
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