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Civilizations around
the world were chewing natural gum thousands of years ago.
In A.D. 50, Ancient Greeks were believed to chew a tree
resin from the Mastic tree. Dioscorides, a Greek physician
and medical botanist of the first century, refers to the
"curative powers" of the mastic in his writing.
"Mastichan" in Greek means "to
chew." Today Greeks and Middle Easterners enjoy
chewing mastic resin, combined with beeswax,
a softening agent.
During the second century, the Mayans in Central America
enjoyed chewing chicle. This natural gum comes from
the latex of the sapodilla tree and later became the main
ingredient in chewing gum. The
North American Indians used the gum coming from the bark
of spruce trees. They showed this custom to the early
North American settlers, who created
the first commercial chewing gum by selling and trading
lumps of spruce. Spruce gum continued
to be sold until the 1850s when paraffin wax became the
new popular base for chewing gum. Paraffin gum unfortunately
required the heat and moisture
of the mouth to make it suitable for
chewing, and was replaced by other
substances. Sweetened and flavored
paraffin wax is still used. Refined paraffin waxes are also
used as ingredients of chewing gum bases.
Modern day gum
products actually appeared in 1869. A USA American inventor
working for the Mexican general, Antonio López de
Santa Anna, realized that chicle was superior to
all other gum bases, and produced some chicle-based
gum. This rediscovery of what the Mayans had known over
one thousand years earlier revolutionized the manufacture
of chewing gum. Adams produced the first modern chewing
gum. He called it Adams New York No. 1.
Gum made with chicle
and similar latexes soon became more popular than spruce
gum or paraffin gum. Chicle-base chewing gum was
softer and its flavor lasted longer than any previous type
of chewing gum. By the 1900s chewing gum was manufactured
in many different shapes and sizes (long pencil-shaped sticks,
ball form, flat sticks and blocks) and flavors (peppermint,
fruit and spearmint).
Bubble
gum was invented in 1928 by Walter Diemer. He found
the right combination of ingredients and created a gum that
was strong enough and elastic enough to stretch when filled
with air.
Today, synthetic materials (human-made resins and waxes)
replace natural gum ingredients to create a chewing gum
with better quality, texture and taste. Corn syrup, sugar,
and flavoring agents are later added to the gum base in
the gum-making process. Chicle is still produced commercially
from the red and white Sapodilla trees which grow in the
rain forests of Central and South America.
In the USA, there are more than 1,000 varieties of gum manufactured
and sold. You can find gum filled with liquid or speckled
with crystals; gum that won't stick or is made without sugar;
gum with wild flavor combinations like mango and watermelon
or gum in crazy shapes like long rolls of tape.
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| remove |
quitar. OJO: no es "remover"
(false friend)
|
| gum |
goma. Bubble
gum: chicle para hacer globos (bubble: pompa,
burbuja). |
| peanut
butter |
mantequilla
de cacahuete. Unte clásico de Estados Unidos.
Con mermelada de fresa, en pan del molde, típica
merienda. (Engorda que te cagas.) |
| proven |
/Èpruùv«n/
to prove - proved - proven
(participio pasado). Probar (demostrar). Proof(s):
prueba(s) (sustantivo). |
| knead |
/niùd/
Homófono de "need"
(necesidad; necesitar). Amasar. |
| amount |
cantidad |
| disperse |
dispersarse
(?). Aquí diríamos "ablandarse",
creo yo. Este verbo no se usa mucho. |
| enough
/ so you can |
lo suficiente
como para que puedas
We were tired, so
we went to bed early = Estábamos cansadas,
por
lo que nos fuimos pronto a la cama. |
| had
left |
to have
left: que te queda.
Have you
any time left?:
¿Te queda tiempo? We've
got no cake left: No nos queda pastel.
|
| stuck |
to
stick - stuck - stuck:
pegar(se); a stick: un
palo; I'm stuck: Me he
quedado atrapada/atascada. Pink
"stuck": El rosa pegó fuerte
(le gustó a la gente). Come
on, stick around for a while: Anda, quédate
un rato más. |
| physician |
/fIÈzIS«n/
médico/a. OJO: no es físico/a (false friend).
Physics and Chemistry:
Física y química. |
| to
chew |
mascar. Chewing
gum: goma de mascar. My
dog chewed two pairs of mum's shoes!: Mi perro
se ha comido dos pares de zapatos de mamá. |
| beeswax |
bees
wax!: cera de abeja. |
| softening |
soft:
adj., suave. Soft drink:
refresco; soft drug: droga
blanda.
to soften: suavizar; softenER:
suavizante; softenING:
que suaviza. |
| early |
primeros/as.
También, pronto. |
| settlers |
colonos. To
settle: establecerse; settlER:
quien se establece. |
| trading |
to
trade: comerciar;
tradERs: comerciantes;
trading: el comercio. |
| lumps |
trozos. También,
a lump of sugar: un terrón
de azúcar; en cocina, there
are too many lumps: hay demasiados grumos; a
lump in one's throat: un nudo en la garganta;
a lump on one's back: un
bulto en la espalda. |
| heat |
calor. To
heat: calentar. Heat it
a bit more: caliéntalo un poco más.
Hot: caliente, picante.
It's really hot: hace mucho
calor/Está muy caliente/picante
(spicy hot). In/On
heat: en celo. My cat is
in/on heat: mi gata está en celo. |
| moisture |
humedad |
| make
it suitable |
hacerlo adecuado |
| replaced |
sustituido,
reemplazado |
| sweetened |
endulzado.
Sweet: adj., dulce. A
sweet: un caramelo/dulce. To
sweeten: endulzar; sweetenER:
sustancia que endulza. |
| flavored |
US flavor;
UK flavour. Flavor:
sabor. To flavor: dar X
sabor. Flavored: con X
sabor. |
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