Timeline for What does "pat" in "pat a cake" mean?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
14 events
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| Sep 27, 2022 at 17:01 | comment | added | Duckspindle | Has anybody here got access to The Oxford Dictionary of Nursery Rhymes (Oxford University Press, 1951) edited by Iona and Peter Opie? Or indeed, any of their other books? They were considered by many to be the foremost authorities on English nursery rhymes and other children's games, and it seems likely that they will have addressed this rhyme; regrettably I have none of their books. My family and I had the privilege of Iona's friendship when we lived near her in the early 2000s. She was quite a character! | |
| Sep 26, 2022 at 21:14 | comment | added | Mitch | Re: "...a pat with or without an implement will leave a mark that is retained... " - I have no evidence that 'pat' means to mark the bread. In fact, the reading of the line makes it seem like 'patting' is a separate step from marking the bread. As far as I can tell, 'pat' in that poem means 'to pat the dough so that it is flatter' and not to leave any kind of mark at all. So this sentence seems to contradict other parts of your answer. | |
| Sep 26, 2022 at 11:12 | history | edited | Anton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 26, 2022 at 11:07 | comment | added | Anton | Comments have stimulated me to add to my answer. I have left the wikipedia quotation merely to point out to other readers that it is not quite right. | |
| Sep 26, 2022 at 11:06 | history | edited | Anton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 26, 2022 at 8:22 | comment | added | BoldBen | @AndrewLeach I agree, it's very odd. The original makes much more sense. I think they're probably being hypersensitive about the word "prick". I can't think of any sort of cake that you'd roll, you do that with pastry. Also if you throw a cake in the oven it won't come out well, particularly if it's been rolled first. | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 11:30 | comment | added | Anton | @AndrewLeach I agree with you. Perhaps I should have use "sic"! | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 11:28 | comment | added | Anton | @heiner Even today bakers and cooks are familiar with this use of pricking. The pricking of a cake to mark it refers to just that - pricking, for example with a fork. It does not refer to making an opening for insertion of anything. Even a small prick will expand in baking to make a distinct mark on top. Read, for example thetudortravelguide.com/2020/05/23/tudor-bread The techniques of pricking before baking are common and widespread: for example, see christinascucina.com/how-to-make-shortbread | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 10:27 | comment | added | heiner | One reason I find this unconvincing is that in the context of the rhyme, "pricking" presumably refers to adding an opening for the identifying mark into the cake. If there's any temporal order to the verse patting will have to be something before that. | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 9:33 | comment | added | Andrew Leach♦ | Wikipedia has chosen a really poor rendition of the rhyme! It should at least scan. I think my parents used "mark it with B" (as the question here has) and "Then into the oven for Baby and me." | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 9:28 | comment | added | Anton | @heiner Yes, it might be self-evident but I have now added a relevant definition. | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 9:27 | history | edited | Anton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
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| Sep 25, 2022 at 8:03 | comment | added | heiner | Do you have a reference for the usage of "patting" as "marking"? | |
| Sep 25, 2022 at 7:42 | history | answered | Anton | CC BY-SA 4.0 |