Why is there a “d” in “fridge” but not in “refrigerator”?
It’s from Frigidaire?
Because otherwise it would be “frig.”
Or, more logically, “frige”.
According to Google AI, “fridge is an informal, shortened version of refrigerator stemming from the same root and gaining popularity as a common nickname for the appliance, with the ‘d’ added for spelling clarity to maintain the soft ‘j’ sound like in ‘bridge’ or ‘fudge’. It became popular in the early 20th century as people looked for quicker ways to say the long word.”
You can spell Ice box without a d.
It was originally a spoken abbreviation. When people tried to spell it out, they used the most common English spelling rules.
There are two main ways to spell the J sound at the ends of words in English: -dge and -ge. -dge is used for “short vowels”, as it has two constants between the vowels.
Adding a D does not change the siind if the consonant, as the soft G/J sound ([d͡ʒ]) already contains a [d]. So it’s more like doubling a consonant.
For the same reason there’s a “k” in “bike” but not in “bicycle”.
I wish it was the same for mic/microphone. I keep thinking “Mick" when I see mic.
There’s a youtuber I watch called “Mic The Snare”. The shortened name of microphone, mic, is pronounced ‘mike’ and his name is Mike and I still think “Mick The Snare” anytime I see his videos pop up.
An administrative assistant where I work always spelled fridge ‘frig.’
I guess she didn’t realize “frig” is a less vulgar way to say “fuck.”
It has other meanings too.
Why do some people shorten ‘vegetables’ to ‘veges,’ while some choose ‘veggies’? I dunno.
The long form of the abbreviation BBQ is barbecue, not barbeque. But it works much better as BBQ than BBC, phonetically.
Also, I think BBC is initials for something you probably don’t want to go googling for.
Andrew Zimmerin says “vegables”
Just decimates the word vegetables.
I’m ok with it.
There are no FQ answers for any query on English spelling rules. It just is.
I awlays thought barbeque was the correct spelling and -cue was lazy spelling…?
Proper spelling should be “frij.”
The original was barabicu (phonetically) in the native language in Florida and the Caribbean, which became barbacoa in Spanish. Today, barbecue is the most common spelling in English-speaking countries, though Australia, New Zealand, and (rarely) the US spell it barbeque.