the.com/fudge
a sweet so delicious it became polite people's favorite curse word.
means A soft, rich confection made by boiling sugar, butter, and milk to a creamy mass — or, as a verb, to dodge, soften, or rig something to come out right without quite being honest about it.
from The verb came first, from a 17th-century word 'fadge' meaning to fit together or do clumsily; by the time it meant 'to cobble up dishonestly,' a sailors' tale claimed a lying captain named Fudge gave his name to any tall story — likely folk fancy rather than fact. The candy is a much later American arrival, from late 19th-century college campuses, possibly named for the sweet itself being a happy 'fudge' — a batch made up loosely, by feel, and somehow turning out delicious.
- happy accident
- likely born from a batch of botched caramel
- college craze
- women's colleges made it 1890s dorm contraband
- chemistry
- controlled crystallization is the whole secret
- mackinac mania
- a Michigan island sells tons of it yearly
- the swear
- a clean stand-in for a much harsher word
mackinac island fudge — iconic confection made fresh daily in michigan since 1887, sold by hundreds of shops on the island
sea salt caramel fudge — popularized by ghirardelli and now made by artisans worldwide, combines sweet and savory in one piece
judge judy fudging numbers — the judge famously called out litigants for exaggerating or lying about facts on her show for 25 seasons