What names do you have for this appliance?

[Skrej]

Hi all,

A coworker who is a fluent, non-native English speaker uses a particular term that I've never heard in AmE. I'm just curious if she's picked this term up from another variety of English, or if this is just something she's made up on her own. I suspect the latter, but despite my protests, she continues to insist this is "common". She confuses my other coworkers with this term as well, and they're a mix of native and non-native speakers from various parts of the world. While her name for it does exist in AmE, it's a completely different, wholly unrelated concept.

So, I'm interested in hearing other names for this same thing. Please respond with your terms (or other terms you've heard), along with your variant of English.

What do you call (in English) a kitchen appliance which keeps food at a cool (but not frozen) temperature to delay food from spoiling? Also, do you have a shortened form of this word (e.g. 't.v.' for 'television' or 'phone' for 'telephone')?

 

[Skrej]

Yes, but I'll hold off on sharing her term until I've heard from some others.

 

[jutfrank]

I only know refrigerator/fridge.

 

[teechar]

Are we talking about possible variations of "refrigerator", or is the reference to an entirely different appliance/thing?

 

[GoesStation]

Some Americans used to call that appliance the Fridgidaire, from the brand name of a major manufacturer. My father always used to call it the ice box, a term that dates back to the days when most homes didn't have an electric refrigerator.

 

[Raymott]

In Australia, we have infamous refrigerated trucks called Frigmobiles.

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=...qZHbAhUFjZQKHV4OAZIQ_AUICigB&biw=1600&bih=769

 

[tzfujimino]

While her name for it does exist in AmE, it's a completely different, wholly unrelated concept.

Frig?

Not a native speaker. (Sorry!)

 

[GoesStation]

Yes, but I'll hold off on sharing her term until I've heard from some others.

It's been a couple of days now. I'd love to know the word in question.

 

[Skrej]

I was hoping to get some replies from SE Asian English speakers, since she's from the Philippines, to see maybe if it's used in that region.

She insists on calling a refrigerator a 'ref', because "it's the short form".

I keep telling her it's confusing, because we tend to parse 'ref' as a short form of 'referee', and that she can just say 'fridge', but she refuses to change.

So, she keeps uttering sentences like "I'm going to stick this in the ref".....:shock:

 

[GoesStation]

How mystifying. :-|

 

[jutfrank]

"I'm going to stick this in the ref"

I like it. I'm using that from now on.

 

[emsr2d2]

Well, she's entitled to use any term she likes as long as she doesn't mind no one understanding her! Maybe you should show her this thread!

 

[Skrej]

Maybe I should stick strips of black electrical tape on the fridge so it looks like a referee's shirt:lol:.

 

[jutfrank]

Didn't there used to be a football player for the Chicago Bulls many years back nicknamed The Fridge?

I can only imagine her confusion had she been watching the NFL back then.

 

[GoesStation]

It is not the short form in BrE. Simple.

Nor in the American variety.

 

[Do228]

My ex-girlfriend, a Filipina, often used the term "ref" for "refrigerator".

 

[Tdol]

I heard it used in the Philippines when I lived there, but never adopted the term as no one else uses it. Mind you, we did have to chip and hack glaciers out of it on a regular basis, so maybe there's a need for a very short form there.

 

[Skrej]

Interesting, I guess it is coming from her regional variant then, and not just her own made-up term.

Thanks, all. (My Like and Thank buttons don't seem to be working at the moment).