for “nut cake,” entered the language early in
the century; fondant, from the French for
“melting,” the basic material of fudge and all
semisoft or creamy centers, was developed
around 1850. Most candy today is a variation
of some kind on bonbons, taffy, and fondant.
Sugar as Disguise
The medicinal origins of confections live
on in expressions that we use today. While
“honey” is almost invariably a term of
praise, “sugar” is often ambivalent. Sugary
words, a sugary personality, suggest a
certain calculation and artificiality. And
the idea of “sugaring over” something, the
deception of hiding something distasteful
in a sweet shell, would seem to be taken
directly from the druggist’s confections.
As early as 1400, the phrase, “Gall in his
breast and sugar in his face” was used, and
Shakespeare has Hamlet say to Ophelia,