play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it

Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

Thawing one of the mysteries of English


English sometimes does not follow the path you expect. Like when refrigerator is shortened to fridge. Serenity Carr explains how the latter ended up spelled the way it is.

Transcript

Why is there a D in fridge but not in refrigerator? As a general rule, a G at the end of a word sounds like the G in flag and hog. Anywhere else in a word, it can sound like either gesture or forget. The G in refrigerator follows this rule. If we shortened refrigerator to fridge we're left with F-R-I-G. But wouldn't that rhyme with sprig? The spelling with a D most likely came into use because English speakers wanted it to follow the pattern of other familiar words, like bridge, ridge and smidge.

Up next

play serenity carr next to an illustration of a refrigerator with the letter d in it
Why is there a 'd' in 'fridge' but not in 'refrigerator'?

 

Thawing one of the mysteries of English

play ismo merriam webster trunk boot
Some Odd Words with ISMO: "Junk in the Trunk"

 

Comedian ISMO on what separates a boot from a trunk

play video websters video of 1864
Webster's Dictionary of 1864

 

The landmark edition that transformed the way dictionaries are made.

play video title attorney generals
Is It 'Attorney Generals' Or 'Attorneys General'?

 

'Poets laureate'? 'Court-martials'? The curious history of postpositive adjectives in English.

play hot mess
Hot Mess

 

Our research turned up two archaic literal meanings

play video literally
Literally

 

A word that (literally) drives people nuts