May 20, 2022

"Socialcandy are slightly sticky gummies, in opaque pastel shades... and different shapes, most of which take the form of a word, acronym, or symbol of the Internet age."

"There’s a LOL, a yolo, a hashtag, a thumb’s-up sign that looks like the one on Facebook. There’s an O.M.G., a SELFIE, an @, and [another symbol that is is html code and would screw up this post].... Nordic countries, in general, are crazy for candy... But if any one particular country knows its candy, it’s Sweden....  In Sweden, every Saturday is effectively a national holiday, called lördagsgodis, which means 'Saturday candy.'... [I]t tasted of artificial strawberry flavor, as opposed to strawberries themselves, just as the yellow half of a two-color, pill-shaped banana-and-caramel 'bub'... tasted, quite pleasingly, of artificial banana. The flavor of a skull-shaped gummy, on the other hand, Pepto-Bismol-pink and coated in sour sugar crystals, was shockingly reminiscent of a real strawberry, specifically an alpine variety.... I stocked up on those, plus some gummies in the shape of vampire teeth, gummy Coke bottles; a scoopful of delicate little marshmallows that looked like pink-capped mushrooms; and a small selection of what we in America know as Swedish fish but in Sweden are called pastellfiskar, or pale fish...."

From "How to Eat Candy Like a Swedish Person" by Hannah Goldfield in The New Yorker.

14 comments:

Tom T. said...

Basically, this is one insecure woman telling other insecure women that they can feel justified in eating candy if they style it as a social ritual.

amr said...

To get the html character, use <
(I had to use & to get the ampersand.)

The quote from the article is:
"There’s a LOL, a YOLO, a hashtag, a thumb’s-up sign that looks like the one on Facebook. There’s an O.M.G., a SELFIE, an @, and a <3."

Ann Althouse said...

Thanks, amr!

Ann Althouse said...

I guess I don't understand the instructions, amr

I couldn't do it.

amr said...

Type &lt; or & lt; without the space. HTML displays <
Type &gt; or & gt; without the space. HTML displays >
Type &amp; or & amp; without the space. HTML displays &
There are definitely more but I've forgotten most, these are the ones I remember.

Ann Althouse said...

Thank, amr... but I'm just not going to be able to do that....

Joe Smith said...

So not infused with THC I suppose.

I would stay skinny in Sweden.

I love chocolate but have no use for gummy-like candy.

farmgirl said...

I think this post is written in jive.
What kind of candy is this, again?

Not Sure said...

Why "Swedish person" instead of "Swede?"

Is it th NYT stylebook's way to make sure that no Jewish person is referred to as a "Jew?"

Smilin' Jack said...

“ ...some gummies in the shape of vampire teeth, gummy Coke bottles; a scoopful of delicate little marshmallows that looked like pink-capped mushrooms; and a small selection of what we in America know as Swedish fish but in Sweden are called pastellfiskar, or pale fish...."

Yeah, I’ll stick to the meatballs.

Marc in Eugene said...

In Blogger-- although perhaps this is already pointed out-- one has to switch to HTML; upper left hand corner of the compose window, the pencil or stylus or whatever it is. Click that and then choose HTML view. You can write in the normal Compose mode and switch to HTML and back and forth, no problem.

amr said...

Not Sure asked: "Why 'Swedish person' instead of 'Swede?' "
To prevent any British or Australian person from thinking the article was about how to eat candies like rutabagas.

Not Sure said...

@amr, That clears it up. Thanks!

Ann Althouse said...

I know that, Marc, but what I was writing was disappearing because the symbol typed was also code.