In arnie's winning limerick on Dundee you will see the word "lollipop".

He originally had "gobstopper" but substituted lollipop as he felt gobstoppers might not be familiar to US readers.

Was he right?

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Was he right? (he felt gobstoppers might not be familiar to US readers)

Yes. The only other word I ever heard for lollipop was all-day sucker. Hmmm .....

My understanding, speaking as someone who has enjoyed neither for more years than I care to remember, is that a gobstopper is not the same as a lollipop.
Don't ask me for a scientific dissertation on the differences, but for some reason when I think of a gobstopper I think of a big, spherical candy. Think of the gumballs you used to get from the candy machines - but on steroids.

That's exactly right. A large spherical very hard candy that changed colour as you sucked it and took a very long time to eat.

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Originally posted by BobHale:
In arnie's winning limerick on Dundee you will see the word "lollipop".
He originally had "gobstopper" but substituted lollipop as he felt gobstoppers might not be familiar to US readers.

Was he right?

I'm sure we all know of everlasting gobstoppers, which are some sort of candy which is chewed or sucked on.

Wikipedia says a gobstopper is what we call a jawbreaker.

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gobstopper is not the same as a lollipop.

No, there's no connection, other than that they are both confectionary. I substituted 'lollipop' for 'gobstopper' really only because it would still allow the verse to scan. Since you've obviously come across gobstoppers, it appears that Canadian English is with us in this regard.

I know that 'gob', the British/Irish slang for 'mouth', isn't much used in the US - see this thread - so I guessed that 'gobstoppers' were similarly rare.

I've not heard the word used here.

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I'm sure we all know of everlasting gobstoppers, which are some sort of candy which is chewed or sucked on.

Sean, does that mean that you've heard the word used here or just that you know the concept of a "gobstopper?"

gobstopper

I've heard it, but I cannot remember where or when. We here abouts call 'em jawbreakers. Or, did.

If I remember correctly, here in the USA a jawbreaker was/is hard candy of about 19-21mm diameter. There was another name for those larger than that, but I don't remember what.

What is a Jawbreaker?

How they make Jawbreaker Candy

In Tinman's link to jawbreaker wiseGEEK talks about the everlasing gobstopper in the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I remember our kids loving that book, but did the American version talk about "gobstoppers," does anyone know?

but did the American version talk about "gobstoppers," does anyone know?

I believe the first film version did, and that's probably where I heard it (link).

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did the American version talk about "gobstoppers," does anyone know?

I know for sure that it did. That is how I know what a gobstopper is. Or at least, I had an idea because of what the kids found out about the gobstoppers, etc. I remember the book fairly well, it being one of my favorites.

In a casual survey of the people I have on Gtalk and Twitter, we all know what gobstoppers are - some kind of hard candy. MOst of us have learned this arcane knowledge through Willy Wonka . . . and one of my pals (in Georgia) wants to point out that we also know what a lift, a lorry, a flat and a pram are. LOL

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
I've not heard the word used here.

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I'm sure we all know of everlasting gobstoppers, which are some sort of candy which is chewed or sucked on.

Sean, does that mean that you've heard the word used here or just that you know the concept of a "gobstopper?"

It means that I've seen Willy Wonka, starring Gene Wilder. A gobstopper is shown, but it is difficult to tell exactly what it is.

Missed that one. Oh well.

remembering my school days, gobstoppers were the general term for the spherical hard candy, but sometime in the late eighties there was a branded gobstopper called 'jawbreakers'. they are still on sale today, apparently, but they caused a mild stir in the playground and were quite de rigeur.

for me, the term lollipop implies a stick, although i believe that in new zealand a lolly is more of a boiled sweet. and i know this because of a news story where a man driving a truck choked on a lolly and drove into a house; somehow it's funnier with a stick.

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Originally posted by Kalleh:
Missed that one. Oh well.

Really? I guess it is more of a children's film, but it is one of the classic movies of the last half century. It is fairly commonly referenced and often parodied. I've also read the books, can't remember if everlasting gobstoppers are mentioned in them.

Missed the movie, but loved the book.

Welcome to our new alien!

Is popsicle the US word for lollipop?
I remember a 1950s-revival film and a childish joke that used the word.

I seem to recall it's US for ice-lolly.

I believe the Americans are with us Canadians on this one.
A popsicle is a frozen confection of ice cream, frequently with a coating of some kind. There are various kinds, such as creamsicles. A Revell may be the best-known kind.
The connection between a lollipop and a popsicle would be that both are held on a stick to avoid (usually in vain) making a mess of one's fingers while eating the delicacy.

popsicle

For me, out here in California, a Popsicle (a near-genericized brand name currently owned by Unilever) is frozen juice (pop) iced confection (icicle). There's a fellow in our neighborhood who sells them from a little pushcart during the warm and hot days coming soon. (I find it hard to call an ice cream confection on a stick, usually covered with a thin chocolaty veneer a popsicle, but that's probably just me.

popsicle

flavored and colored water frozen on a stick

(you can approximate this at home by freezing Kool-Aid®)

As Richard says, a popsicle is what we would call an ice-lolly over here. (Or perhaps more formally an iced lollipop.) A lollipop on its own is similar, but is made of hard candy of some sort; sometimes flavored sugar like a gobstopper, sometimes colored and flavoured like fruit. The difference is, of course, that it is hard at room temperature, rather than frozen. Both are on a stick.

In America, at least in Chicago, they refer to the general category of frozen treats (popsicles, push-pops, ice cream sandwiches, etc.) as "Ice cream novelties", which I rant against at every opportunity. It is a foolish use of the word novelty, as there is nothing novel about the same treats that have been around my whole life.

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I find it hard to call an ice cream confection on a stick, usually covered with a thin chocolaty veneer a popsicle, but that's probably just me.

No, it's not just you, Z. In Illinois the dreamsicle (I like the orange ones) is confection covering ice cream, and an ice cream bar is chocolate covering ice cream. An ice cream sandwich is a cake like covering, with ice cream in the middle.

A popsicle is as tsuwm says, frozen Kool Aide on a stick. A Push-Up is similar, but with frozen sherbet, and you push it up to eat it.

Ice cream novelties? That's not what I hear them called. I hear them called by the names above.

Sean, I've seen the "novelties" term used, and it always makes me smile a bit because you're right, there is nothing novel about them.

I've always been especially fond of one particular ice cream treat called a Drumstick because it has yummy chocolate and peanuts. Usually the cone is soggy, though, which isn't quite as pleasant.

I've never heard anyone call anything with ice cream a popsicle, though. If it's ice-creamy, it's called a Creamsicle (branded by the same company apparently). My favorite variety of those is the chocolate one, named the Fudgsicle.

YUM!

(perhaps I'll procure a variety of frozen treats for our gathering in May - I bet those creamsicles would taste nasty with beer, though)

I forgot to mention the IT'S-IT ice-cream treat (link). A San Francisco Bay Area delight since 1928. Two oatmeal cookies with ice cream in between and dipped in chocolate. Originally available only in vanilla, but now in other flavors.

My understanding of frozen treats on a stick is exactly like Caterwauler's, and similar to Kalleh's, since I'm from Ohio originally. We had dreamsicles, fudgesicles and creamsicles, drumsticks, ice cream sandwiches and Popsicles.*

I've never used the word "gobstopper" in my life until this sentence! And now I see how deprived I am that I have never read or seen Willy Wonka either.

Gobstopper is such an ugly word, isn't it? "Gob" for "mouth" sounds so rough and rude. Are "gob" and "gobstopper" words used in polite conversation, or are they more like rough street slang?

Wordmatic

*P.S. I don't eat any of that stuff anymore. I'm sure it's a recipe for instant diabetes!

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Are "gob" and "gobstopper" words used in polite conversation

"Gob", when referring to the mouth, is slang, and not really used in 'polite society'. When used to mean "a lump" or a "mouthful" it is more accepted, although perhaps "gobbet" might be better used.

"Gobstopper" is widely used, though.

See The Online Etymology Dictionary.

Oh, CW, I forgot about the drumsticks! Mmmm! Z, that cookie deal sounds good. I've seen 2 large chocolate chip cookies with ice cream sandwiched in the middle, but I am not sure what it's called. We have an ice cream truck that parks near us, and they have a lot of those ice cream novelties.

Can you see why we, in the U.S., are overweight?