# Cough drop or lozenge? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 5, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280 "2016-04-05T19:04:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/1 "2016-04-05T19:04:33Z")
You’ve been coughing and your throat feels irritated. For relief, you put a medicated candy-like tablet in your mouth. What do you call it? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/2 "2016-04-05T19:09:30Z")
Cough drop. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the word lozenge used(despite it’s presence on packaging). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/3 "2016-04-05T19:15:24Z")
If it’s cough-related, I always call it a cough drop. I have used some designed only for a sore throat (something like this [Cepacol one](https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/fda/fdaDrugXsl.cfm?id=25725)) and I mostly call those by brand name, but might fall back on lozenge. I certainly wouldn’t call it a cough drop because it is not intended to treat a cough. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/4 "2016-04-05T19:17:44Z")
Demulcent ---
**Author:** ![quiltguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e47774/32.png) [@quiltguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/5 "2016-04-05T19:38:15Z")
Cough drop. If it’s diamond-ish shaped I call it a lozenge, because that’s what a lozenge is, rhombus-shaped. Cough drops, lemon drops, horehound drops, et al are named drops, because after sheets of said candy are cooled, they are DROPPED on a solid surface, to break them apart from each other or the matrix in which they were formed. Talk about calling a spade a spade. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MoonMoon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moonmoon/32/2959_2.png) [@MoonMoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MoonMoon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/6 "2016-04-05T20:34:47Z")
Well, I call it a cough drop, but I don’t use it because they upset my stomach. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/7 "2016-04-05T21:27:13Z")
Cough drop, unless it involves zinc in which case “zinc lozenge” sounds fine. If someone asked me to hand them a generic “lozenge,” I wouldn’t look at them like they have two heads, though. Really though, the pedant in me says it should only be a lozenge if ◊ shaped. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/8 "2016-04-05T21:30:18Z")
I call it a Hall’s Mentholyptus. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/9 "2016-04-05T22:32:10Z")
The only person I’ve known who ever used the word “lozenge” was my ex, who also spoke of “vehicles” and “coitus.” Yes, he sounded like a cross between Sheldon Cooper and Data. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/10 "2016-04-05T22:39:27Z")
Cough Drop. My grandmother would say lozenge and I thought she meant a lounge chair. English is tough on the young. ---
**Author:** ![seal\_cleaner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@seal\_cleaner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seal_cleaner)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/11 "2016-04-05T23:13:04Z")
My wife always calls it a “lozenger” and I’ve picked that up. She’s a native Arkie, but that doesn’t explain it. ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/12 "2016-04-05T23:29:55Z")
Usually, I just say Hall’s, as in, “My throat hurts. Do we have any Hall’s?” (Hall Mentholyptus, obviously) If it is any other brand (and really the only other brand we ever have is Luden’s Cherry), I say cough drops. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/13 "2016-04-06T00:48:02Z")
If it is hard and candy-like in texture (basically smooth to the touch) I call it a cough drop; think the usual Hall’s. If it more a faster dissolving thing like a “Thannis” or “Fisherman’s Friend” with a grittier texture, I call it a lozenge. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/14 "2016-04-06T07:07:04Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Really though, the pedant in me says it should only be a lozenge if ◊ shaped. Understandable, but keep in mind that the origin of the word is “lausiae”, which means small pebbles. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/15 "2016-04-06T12:55:50Z")
> [@seal\_cleaner](#): > > My wife always calls it a “lozenger” and I’ve picked that up. She’s a native Arkie, but that doesn’t explain it. My mother called it that as well–“lozenger,” with a definite -er sound on the end. She lived all her life in Indiana, but I’ve never heard anyone else from around here say it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/16 "2016-04-06T16:34:54Z")
I used to think\* there was a clear distinction between the two: if it’s medicated, and it’s for a cough, then it’s a cough drop; if it’s basically candy, and it’s for a sore throat, then it’s a lozenge. Then one day in high school, I had a bad sore throat, and my friend gave me a handful of “lozenges”. I took maybe 6 or 7 of them, one right after another, until I suddenly found myself getting very, very sleepy. “But you said they were _lozenges_, not _cough drops_! How was I supposed to know they had cough medicine in them?!” \*And I still think of them this way, although I now realize that this is non-standard. ---
**Author:** ![Girl\_From\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Girl\_From\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Girl_From_Mars)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/17 "2016-04-08T12:31:52Z")
I’m pretty sure I’d call it a cough lolly. But I would know what the other 2 phrases referred to. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/18 "2016-04-08T13:13:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Demulcent Or a [pastille.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pastille) ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2016, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cough-drop-or-lozenge/751280/19 "2016-04-08T13:26:37Z")
I say throat lozenge, as in “do you have a throat lozenge?”.