# 冰淇淋 / 冰激凌 (ice cream)



## linguistz

Hi all,

Wordreference translated ice cream as 冰淇淋, which is what I've always said, but an internet search says 冰激凌 is the authoritative one.  (http://ask.koubei.com/question/1307021217921.html)

A search for 冰淇淋 however, returns more results than the latter.  What do the rest think?  Which one would you use?


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## useeraser

*B*oth of them are OK
*I*n my opinion,冰淇淋is more frequently used than 冰激凌
*I*n fact ,there is no difference of meaning  between them
*N*ot at all


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## samanthalee

I have frankly not heard of 冰激凌 until today. (真是孤陋寡闻 ) The most common term for ice-cream in Singapore is 雪糕, followed closely by 冰淇淋. I wasn't aware of any other variations. 

A search on the internet also turn up alternative transliterations: 冰结涟、冰淇凌、冰其淋、冰激淋


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## happyamypiggy

They really do not have difference. Just 冰淇凌 is more common and I would prefer it.


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## endlessnight2004

I would use 冰淇凌。But 冰激淋 is also acceptable, maybe more frequently used in Taiwan? But one thing is for sure, the two words mean the same thing, but differ in pronunciation. Bing Qi Ling for the former and Bing Ji Ling for the latter.


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## keung

I never heard of 冰激凌 , 冰结涟… in Hong kong
We use 雪糕 and understandable of 冰淇淋. but not 冰激凌 , 冰结涟…


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## fredisaking

endlessnight2004 said:


> I would use 冰淇凌。But 冰激淋 is also acceptable, maybe more frequently used in Taiwan? But one thing is for sure, the two words mean the same thing, but differ in pronunciation. Bing Qi Ling for the former and Bing Ji Ling for the latter.


 
No one would say 冰激凌 in Taiwan.


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## baila

From my personal experience and understanding, *冰淇淋 *is used and understood in Taiwanese Mandarin, where as* 冰激凌 *is most frequently used in China. 

I hope this helps.


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## BODYholic

samanthalee said:


> I have frankly not heard of 冰激凌 until today. (真是孤陋寡闻 ) The most common term for ice-cream in Singapore is 雪糕, followed closely by 冰淇淋. I wasn't aware of any other variations.
> 
> A search on the internet also turn up alternative transliterations: 冰结涟、冰淇凌、冰其淋、冰激淋



Already not many of our fellow citizens can write 冰淇淋 without having to refer to dictionary. Thank goodness we are not using "冰激凌". 

I believe we also understand 冰棒.


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## EddieCai

BODYholic said:


> Already not many of our fellow citizens can write 冰淇淋 without having to refer to dictionary. Thank goodness we are not using "冰激凌".
> 
> I believe we also understand 冰棒.


 
Well, 冰棒 is slightly different than 冰淇淋.
 
冰淇淋 is ice-cream, 冰棒(or 棒冰, 冰棍) is only a simple ice-bar or ice-stick.


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## samanthalee

From the comments we have so far, we know that 冰激凌 is not heard in Hong Kong, Taiwan nor Singapore. And comments from China indicate that it's not a common term.



fredisaking said:


> No one would say 冰激凌 in Taiwan.


Hi fredisaking, since we are on this topic,  would you tell us what ice-cream is called in Taiwan?  I know it's colloquially called 叭噗 and 枝仔冰, but how do you guys call it formally?


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## Lukero

I've lived in Singapore for a long time and always said 冰淇淋. After moving to Shanghai, I've seen terms such as 雪糕，冰棍，冰棒 etc. I've only heard 冰激凌 once on an advertisement. I've always thought both are the same and depends on the person. 

Though I did a search on Baidu and someone said that there is a difference.
冰激凌 is normal ice cream while 冰淇淋 is ice cream with jelly coating. 
But I don't know where he got this info from so it's not that believable.


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## fredisaking

samanthalee said:


> From the comments we have so far, we know that 冰激凌 is not heard in Hong Kong, Taiwan nor Singapore. And comments from China indicate that it's not a common term.
> 
> 
> Hi fredisaking, since we are on this topic, would you tell us what ice-cream is called in Taiwan?  I know it's colloquially called 叭噗 and 枝仔冰, but how do you guys call it formally?


 
OMG, how did you know that?

*叭噗* (preferably pronounced in Taiwanese as bah1-boo1) means ice cream on a cone, usually it is an old guy who rides his bicycle with an ice box in the back and a horn on the handlebar that makes this 叭噗 sound. 叭噗 guys are fading. The last time I saw him was ages ago. 

*枝仔冰* (gee(as in geek)-yah-byuhng) literally means stick ice. A bar-shaped ice on a stick. Those ice cream bars you can see at Fry's. 枝仔冰 was first used for iced sugar water, no creamy feeling. Now it can mean both ice cream bars and ice bars.

*冰淇淋* Yeah, that creamy, icy, tasty stuff. Like Haagen Daz.


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## Teach & Learn

linguistz said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Wordreference translated ice cream as 冰淇淋, which is what I've always said, but an internet search says 冰激凌 is the authoritative one.  (http://ask.koubei.com/question/1307021217921.html)
> 
> A search for 冰淇淋 however, returns more results than the latter.  What do the rest think?  Which one would you use?



My vague memory from Chinese class back in primary school called 冰激凌 is a false written form of 冰淇淋 (There was even a question about this in the exam), but since people don't identify the pronunciation (qi -> ji) clearly enough during daily conversations, besides it's easier to use "ji" after the nasal consonant "ng", "bing qi lin" became "bing ji ling".


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## BODYholic

fredisaking said:


> OMG, how did you know that?
> 
> *叭噗* (preferably pronounced in Taiwanese as bah1-boo1) means ice cream on a cone, usually it is an old guy who rides his bicycle with an ice box in the back and a horn on the handlebar that makes this 叭噗 sound. 叭噗 guys are fading. The last time I saw him was ages ago.
> 
> *枝仔冰* (gee(as in geek)-yah-byuhng) literally means stick ice. A bar-shaped ice on a stick. Those ice cream bars you can see at Fry's. 枝仔冰 was first used for iced sugar water, no creamy feeling. Now it can mean both ice cream bars and ice bars.
> 
> *冰淇淋* Yeah, that creamy, icy, tasty stuff. Like Haagen Daz.



Thanks. That's really informative.


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## BODYholic

EddieCai said:


> Well, 冰棒 is slightly different than 冰淇淋.
> 
> 冰淇淋 is ice-cream, 冰棒(or 棒冰, 冰棍) is only a simple ice-bar or ice-stick.



Yes, I agree with you on that. Unfortunately, its meaning expand slightly to, also, include ice-cream bars nowadays. You may refer to fredisaking's explanation on *枝仔冰*. 

By the way, is "*淇淋*" transliterated from the English word "cream"?


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## samanthalee

fredisaking said:


> OMG, how did you know that?


因為偶像劇看多了…而且我祖籍福建，看台灣節目聽台語，感覺很親切，所以常看。



BODYholic said:


> Yes, I agree with you on that. Unfortunately, its meaning expand slightly to, also, include ice-cream bars nowadays. You may refer to fredisaking's explanation on *枝仔冰*.
> 
> By the way, is "*淇淋*" transliterated from the English word "cream"?



冰棒 is sometimes used to refer to ice-cream, but usually it means popsicle. But then again, sometimes it's difficult to draw the line between popsicle and ice-cream; my favourite 冰棒 happens to be an "ice-cream on the inside, popsicle on the outside".

From what I can see on TV,  枝仔冰 does not refer to all ice-cream-on-stick. 枝仔冰 is what Singaporeans call "potong ice cream". (Sorry, I have no idea what the proper English word for it should be. Please google for images of potong ice cream if you'll like to know what it is.)

Yes, "淇淋"  is transliterated from the English word "cream". But "淇淋" in Mandarin doesn't sound like "cream"; you'll have to pronounce "淇淋" in Hokkien/Taiwanese (Cantonese pronunciation is close too).


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## EddieCai

BODYholic said:


> By the way, is "*淇淋*" transliterated from the English word "cream"?


 
Exactly.


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## BODYholic

Thanks Samantha & Eddie.


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## w84u

It is also said that 淇淋 is transliterated from French: *creme* du *lait*

But I am not sure, for I don't know French


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## pp0970

linguistz said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Wordreference translated ice cream as 冰淇淋, which is what I've always said, but an internet search says 冰激凌 is the authoritative one. (http://ask.koubei.com/question/1307021217921.html)
> 
> A search for 冰淇淋 however, returns more results than the latter. What do the rest think? Which one would you use?


 

both are correct!


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## linguistz

Thanks for all your comments everyone.  I really appreciate it. 

Let me share the original context of the question.  I help some friends with their chinese lessons and ocassionally words like these arise.  Worse still, some words which mean the same thing sound similar, and it occasionally confuses the beginner student when the pinyins are similar.  

I only realised the confusion when I saw the word 冰激凌 in the book, otherwise I would have insisted on pronouncing it as 冰淇淋!

Other examples include 词典 and 字典. I'm sure there are many other similar words which mean almost the same thing, and yet sound very similar.


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## clarehh

I was taught to write 冰激凌 as the correct one when I was little. 
Indeed I believe both are right, but I always call it 冰激凌 ever since I had been told by my chinese teacher. She said the word of 冰激凌 is derived from the word of "激灵"(somewhat it means "chill" or "rouse" in english). She said people would get chill bumps or shivers when they suddenly eat icy food in hot weather. Therefore, 冰激凌 it's more literally understandable. 

I think what she said is reasonable, so i prefer to her explanation.


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## AVim

In my area, people would say it as 冰激凌 rather than 冰淇淋. 
If you say it 冰淇淋, I might think you are referring a thing like '冰麒麟'??, but in the written form, it is acceptable.


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## pidave

they're both the same,it doesn't matter.


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