Sherbet
From Free net encyclopedia
Sherbet (British and American English) or Sherbert (Australian English and New Zealand English, also a variant spelling used in American English) historically was a cool effervescent or iced fruit drink. The meaning, spelling and pronunciation has fractured between three English-speaking countries. It is usually spelled either sherbet or sherbert. In the US sherbert can also refer to the frozen dessert sorbet or a special kind of ice cream.
Image:Sherbet sherbert British confectionery.jpg
Sherbet in the United Kingdom is a kind of fizzy powder made from bicarbonate of soda, tartaric acid, sugar etc and usually cream soda or fruit flavoured. The acid-base reaction occurs upon presence of moisture (juice/saliva). It used to be stirred into various beverages to make effervescing drinks, in a similar way to making lemonade from lemonade powders. Today, people usually buy carbonated drinks rather than making them at home.
Sherbet is now used to mean this powder sold as a sweet.
It is often sold in a cardboard tube with a straw made from liquorice as a sherbet fountain. You are supposed to be able to suck the powder up the straw into your mouth (where it fizzles and dissolves on your tongue). However, this rarely works so people tend to tip the sherbet into their mouths and eat the liquorice separately.
Sherbet dips are also popular. You can buy a small packet of sherbet, sometimes called a 'Dib Dab' with a lollipop sealed into the bag. Once you lick the lollipop, it can be dipped into the sherbet and sucked clean, or used to shovel the sherbet into your mouth. Another popular type of sherbet dip is the 'Double Dipper' where the packet is divided into three or four sections; one contains an edible stick which can be licked and then dipped into the other sections, each of which contains a different flavour of sherbet (for example strawberry, orange, cola).
Sherbet is also incorporated into other sweets. For example it is used to fill boiled sweets (e.g. sherbet lemons) or wrapped in edible paper shells (flying saucers).
Slang
Sherbet has been used in parts of both the UK and Australia as slang for an alcoholic drink, especially beer. This use is noted in a slang dictionary as early as 1890, and still appears in list of slang terms written today (especially lists of Australian slang). "We're heading to the pub for a few sherbets." - … pints of beer."
In the UK "Showbiz Sherbet" sometimes refers to cocaine, which is also consumed as a powder.
In the 1990s, "sherbet" or "sherbet dab" began to be used as Cockney rhyming slang for a "taxi cab". Its use in this sense is probably restricted to London. "It's raining, let's get a sherbet" - "… take a taxi."
Popular culture
In the first Austin Powers movie, the main character hypnotises a guard (played by Christian Slater) and orders him to get an orange sherbet. The word sherbet apparently has a comedic effect when pronounced in a South London accent.