# How did 'Fridge' pick up the "D" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2021, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461 "2021-08-24T21:56:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/41 "2021-08-26T02:03:34Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > FWIW fridge/frig are both legitimate spelling variations, if that is not clear. It’s just a colloquial abbreviation, after all. It was that, but “fridge” has entered the lexicon as the standard spelling. You will find the definition in dictionaries as “ **fridge** – short for _refrigerator_.” ON the other hand, “frig” only returns references to “vulgar slang,” as a replacement for “fuck,” where it is pronounced with the hard G. This aligns with my perceptions. I’ve never seen fridge spelled “frig”. I’m sure that was used at one point, but it seems English standardized on “fridge.” It will be interesting if we eventually standardize on “vag.” I would have thought we’d at lest spell it “vaj”. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/42 "2021-08-26T02:32:34Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > “Frig” is a slang term for a sex act. Apparently it’s actually slang for 2 very different sex acts if [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com) is to be believed. Of the two, the one I was familiar with ironically doesn’t involve getting the D… ---
**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:** [August 26, 2021, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/43 "2021-08-26T05:45:35Z")
And while we’re here, let’s have a little discussion of the word for a temporary quick-and-dirty fix: Is it a “kluge” or a “kludge”? I see “kludge” often, and that grates. I think the correct pronunciation is like “klooj” (with oo as in school), and “kludge” just doesn’t say that. Kludge looks like it should rhyme with budge, fudge, nudge, sludge, trudge. Lose that d, people. It’s **kluge**. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/44 "2021-08-26T06:06:04Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > And while we’re here, let’s have a little discussion of the word for a temporary quick-and-dirty fix: Is it a “kluge” or a “kludge”? > > I see “kludge” often, and that grates. I think the correct pronunciation is like “klooj” (with oo as in school), and “kludge” just doesn’t say that. Kludge looks like it should rhyme with budge, fudge, nudge, sludge, trudge. Lose that d, people. It’s **kluge**. I’ve only ever seen kludge, and I’ve always heard it pronounced to rhyme with judge. (It is not just a word I read but never heard.) If you said klooge (which is how I’d spell what you describe, as it rhymes with scrooge), I likely wouldn’t know what you were talking about. ---
**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:** [August 26, 2021, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/45 "2021-08-26T06:15:15Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I’ve only ever seen kludge, and I’ve always heard it pronounced to rhyme with judge. We must be living on different continents. I, OTOH, have NEVER heard it pronounced to rhyme with “judge”, but always to rhyme with “stooge”. Maybe there’s a different tradition between, say, the electronics industry (where, I think, the word originated) versus the software industry (where I spent much of my career)? I’ve seen it spelled “klooge” and even “klooj”, but most often “kluge”. I’ve also seen “kludge” often, but this just doesn’t agree with the pronunciation I’ve always heard. ETA: Okay, on thinking again, I guess I’ve seen the spellings “kluge”, “klooge”, and “kludge” about equally often, but always pronounced to rhyme with stooge. ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/46 "2021-08-26T13:22:32Z")
I’m with @BigT. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it spelled any other way than “kludge” or heard it pronounced any other way than to rhyme with budge/fudge/judge. FWIW, I’m a U.S. American, with no ties to the electronics or software industries. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/47 "2021-08-26T13:31:37Z")
I generally hear it to rhyme with “judge” as well, though I have heard “kloodge.” Wiktionary gives both pronunciations, with the “judge”-rhyming one first: [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kludge](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/kludge) [Forvo.com](http://Forvo.com) gives three audio examples. Two are British, one is American. The first British one says “Kloodge”. The second British one cuts of as “kluh” without the final consonant. And the American one is an over-enunciated, but clear “kludge”: > **[How to pronounce kludge in English - Definition of kludge in English](https://forvo.com/word/kludge/#en)** > > How to pronounce kludge in English. The definition of kludge is: a badly assembled collection of parts hastily assembled to serve some particular purpose... ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/48 "2021-08-26T13:40:12Z")
I learned it and used it as Kloodged. “I kludged the cables together until I can get the right cables later.” “Man someone kludged this and left it, crap.” ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/49 "2021-08-26T15:57:59Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > frige would be read as fryje. Similar to “oblige”. Or possible freege, similar to “prestige” and “vestige”. I think all “-idge” sounds are pronounced the same, e.g. “bridge”, “midge”, “ridge”, etc. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/50 "2021-08-26T17:22:38Z")
Well, apparently klooj is indeee the intended pronunciation. This goes through a whole history of the word: > **[The Appropriately Messy Etymology of ‘Kluge’](https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/09/the-appropriately-complicated-etymology-of-kluge/499433/)** > > Or is it "kludge"? ---
**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:** [August 27, 2021, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/51 "2021-08-27T05:57:41Z")
> [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](#): > > Similar to “oblige”. > > Or possible freege, similar to “prestige” and “vestige”. None of these three words, “oblige”, “prestige”, “vestige”, are pronounced similar to one another as far as I’ve known these words. The “i” is different in all three words. The “g” is pronounced like English “j” (dge sound) in two of these words and like “zh” (French “j”) in one of them. I checked all three words with on-line dictionaries. ---
**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:** [August 27, 2021, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/52 "2021-08-27T06:03:09Z")
BTW, I haven’t seen this mentioned yet: I think this is why some words (often foreign names) are spelled beginning with “Dj”, as in Djibouti. I think this is used in French spellings to indicate the English-sounding “j”, since the French “j” by itself (Jibouti?) is very different. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2021, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/53 "2021-08-27T06:04:02Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > None of these three words, “oblige”, “prestige”, “vestige”, are pronounced similar to one another as far as I’ve known these words. The “i” is different in all three words. The “g” is pronounced like English “j” (dge sound) in two of these words and like “zh” (French “j”) in one of them. I believe that was their point. If we spelled it “frige,” we would not expect the i to have the sound as in “bid.” ---
**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:** [August 27, 2021, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/54 "2021-08-27T06:06:14Z")
If I saw “frige” I would most likely say it “frigga” (like the Anglicized Frigg, Odin’s wife), because I would not recognize it as an English word and that would be my best guess at it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2021, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/55 "2021-08-27T12:18:15Z")
I, on first attempt, would probably pronounce “frige” as _freezh_ or _freej._ ---
**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:** [August 28, 2021, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/56 "2021-08-28T05:23:05Z")
While we’re at it, what’s up with the digraph “zh”? I’m fairly sure everybody agrees how it’s pronounced (like the French “j”), and the sound does occur in English words like “treasure” and “pleasure” and “casual”. And the “zh” spelling occurs in the English spelling of some foreign words, especially Russian words and names. But I’m not aware of any English words having this sound and being spelled with “zh”? Are there any? Is it always spelled with “su” or “ge” (like massage) in English words? ---
**Author:** ![SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@SpacemanSpiff\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpacemanSpiff_II)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/57 "2021-08-30T13:27:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Is it always spelled with “su” or “ge” (like massage) in English words? Or “si(on)” (vision, precision et al) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/58 "2021-08-30T14:09:10Z")
Well, here’s all the acceptable Scrabble words with zh: [Words with ZH](https://word.tips/words-with/zh/) Basically, the answer is that there really aren’t any. “Zhoosh” is probably the closest to an actual English word, albeit informal. “Muzhik” is transliteration from Russian. “Nudzh” is Yiddish. “Zho” is apparently an alternate spelling of “dzo” a yak-cow hybrid. ---
**Author:** ![Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/do_not_taunt/32/2968_2.png) [@Do\_Not\_Taunt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Do_Not_Taunt)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/59 "2021-08-30T16:17:41Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > “Zho” is apparently an alternate spelling of “dzo” a yak-cow hybrid. I’ve always spelled my yak-cow hybrids “dzo.” I’ll have to keep in mind “zho” is valid, too. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2021, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461/60 "2021-08-30T23:11:01Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > what’s up with the digraph “zh” It’s by analogy with the unvoiced/voiced pair “s”/“z”, the voiced equivalent of “sh”. s is to z as sh is to zh. (In reality s probably represents the sound /z/ more often than it does /s/ but that’s another story.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-did-fridge-pick-up-the-d/949461.md?page=4)