# Creme or Cream - proper usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698 "2012-09-14T15:49:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/1 "2012-09-14T15:49:52Z")
Google bugs me with their helpful message “did you mean Cream?” I use cream in coffee or hot tea. Paint color is creme. Makeup is creme too (see link). [http://wonderfulwortelworld.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/nivea-creme.gif?w=510](http://wonderfulwortelworld.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/nivea-creme.gif?w=510) Whats the official use of these two words? ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/2 "2012-09-14T16:03:51Z")
Creme is generally an affectation from the French spelling, crème. So it is used in contexts where a French, “exotic” or luxury connotation is desired, as in cookery, cosmetics etc. The colour is cream, unless you are being pretentious. But it’s crème caramel, crème fraîche, Cadbury’s Creme Eggs etc. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/3 "2012-09-14T16:05:31Z")
I would say that if you are talking about a color you should always use “cream” (whatever some paint manufacturer’s marketing department may like to pretend); if you are talking about a texture or consistency, you _may_ use “creme”, but “cream” is acceptable too (and less pretentious). Possibly a creme tends to be a little more solid, or, rather, “jelled”, than a cream. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/4 "2012-09-14T16:06:50Z")
I think “cream” is a dairy product and “creme” is a made up word for things pretending to be like cream. I doubt “creme” has any official standing. Likewise I could make up any horrible stuff I wanted and name it “chawklet”, and nothing official has happened. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/5 "2012-09-14T16:12:17Z")
> [@Napier](#): > > I think “cream” is a dairy product and “creme” is a made up word for things pretending to be like cream. I doubt “creme” has any official standing. Likewise I could make up any horrible stuff I wanted and name it “chawklet”, and nothing official has happened. There is a way for words in English to get “official standing”? :eek: (Well, there is the OED, but that is always, and inevitably, way behind the curve…and I bet it has “creme” in it anyway.) ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/6 "2012-09-14T16:25:46Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > There is a way for words in English to get “official standing”? :eek: (Well, there is the OED, but that is always, and inevitably, way behind the curve…and I bet it has “creme” in it anyway.) There are rules about what you can call something if you’re packaging and selling it. ---
**Author:** ![Abortion\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@Abortion\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abortion_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/7 "2012-09-14T16:40:56Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are rules about what you can call something if you’re packaging and selling it. Yeah. For example, Bavarian cream (_crème bavaroise_) is a type of pastry cream made with milk, sometimes cream, and eggs, thickened with gelatin instead of corn starch. My local grocery store stocks some god-awful looking, banana-yellow “Bavaria Creme” on the shelves of the baking supplies section. It more or less resembles that nasty shelf-stable stuff that fills cheap-o birthday cakes, and is made of mostly preservatives, oil, sugars of various sorts, and gelatin. I imagine there are rules against slapping the word “cream” on this stuff. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/8 "2012-09-14T18:35:40Z")
Thanks everyone. 😉 That helps with a story I’m writing. I wasn’t sure which to use creme or cream. I sometimes like to use British spellings. Like colour instead of color. I got busted by a writing teacher. Are you British? “She asks”. I should have said, “Blimey, I sure as bloody hell am.” LOL But, she knew my accent too well. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/9 "2012-09-14T19:38:51Z")
Just guessing that women are more likely to buy Creme du Soir Pour la Visage, rather than Facial Night Cream. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/10 "2012-09-15T03:55:27Z")
And what of the distinction (if any) between “complete” and “compleat” (often used in book titles)? FWIW, **Johnny L. A.** [did an OP on this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=193859) back in 2003 (which collected a total of 1 response). What I want to know is why a certain variety of ornamental flowering tree is called a Crape Myrtle instead of a Crepe Myrtle. ETA: Added link to the earlier thread. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/11 "2012-09-15T04:17:12Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > What I want to know is why a certain variety of ornamental flowering tree is called a Crape Myrtle instead of a Crepe Myrtle. Probably because it (its leaves or something) have a crinkly texture, rather than being like a pancake. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/12 "2012-09-15T04:23:52Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > There are rules about what you can call something if you’re packaging and selling it. Apparently they do not preclude you from calling a creamy textured product _creme_ though, so they aren’t really relevant to my point. **Napier** seemed to to implying that _creme_ is not a “real” word, but if people use and understand it (which they do), it is. ---
**Author:** ![Abortion\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@Abortion\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abortion_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/13 "2012-09-15T05:56:05Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Just guessing that women are more likely to buy Creme du **Soir** Pour la Visage, rather than Facial Night Cream. Nitpick: Crème de nuit. ---
**Author:** ![Abortion\_Fanatic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/76d3ee/32.png) [@Abortion\_Fanatic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abortion_Fanatic)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/14 "2012-09-15T06:15:50Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Apparently they do not preclude you from calling a creamy textured product _creme_ though, so they aren’t really relevant to my point. **Napier** seemed to to implying that _creme_ is not a “real” word, but if people use and understand it (which they do), it is. Well, if you look closely at the grocery store, you’ll see “creme” all over the place; Cookies and Creme bars, Cadbury Creme eggs, Vanilla Creme puffs. The FDA doesn’t allow you to put the word ‘cream’ on something that contains no cream at all. So ‘creme’ is close enough for many people not to even notice, and has the benefit of looking like a French word that means the same thing (crème). Obviously with cosmetics it’s different. You can still buy shaving cream, and though some cosmetics companies call their products crèmes, plenty of anti-aging creams and eye creams are sold. So… what’s the **official use** , as you asked in your OP? Creme is a word used when the product sold has no cream in it. Like “frozen dessert product” on wanna-be ice creams that have no eggs or cream. Or “orange drink” on Sunny D. Crème is the French word for cream and is sometimes used to make cosmetics sound fancier. Cream is either a dairy product consisting of at least 10% milk fat (or so; different countries have different classifications) and up to about 40%, or else it’s a semi-solid pharmaceutical preparation that’s a mix of oils and water and other things. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2012, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-or-cream-proper-usage/634698/15 "2012-09-15T09:27:37Z")
Interestingly the OED has both crème and creme. crème is listed as something make with cream or custard - and they note crème brûlée and crème caramel. creme is listed as an obsolete (with an example of use from 1398) form of cream.