Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.

Sugar

Definition: Sugar

Sugar

Noun

1. A white crystalline carbohydrate used as a sweetener and preservative.

2. An essential structural component of living cells and source of energy for animals; includes simple sugars with small molecules as well as macromolecular substances; are classified according to the number of monosaccharide groups they contain.

Verb

1. Sweeten with sugar; "sugar your tea".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "sugar" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1258. (references)

 

Specialty Definition: Sugar

DomainDefinition

Computing

SUGAR A simple lazy functional language designed at Westfield College, University of London, UK and used in Principles of Functional Programming, Hugh Glaser et al, P-H 1984. (1994-12-01). Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing.

Dream Interpretation

To dream of sugar, denotes that you will be hard to please in your domestic life, and will entertain jealousy while seeing no cause for aught but satisfaction and secure joys. There may be worries, and your strength and temper taxed after this dream.
To eat sugar in your dreams, you will have unpleasant matters to contend with for a while, but they will result better than expected.
To price sugar, denotes that you are menaced by enemies.
To deal in sugar and see large quantities of it being delivered to you, you will barely escape a serious loss.
To see a cask of sugar burst and the sugar spilling out, foretells a slight loss.
To hear a negro singing while unloading sugar, some seemingly insignificant affair will bring you great benefit, either in business or social states. Source: Ten Thousand Dreams Interpreted ....

Food & Agriculture

Means all monosaccharides and disaccharides present in food, but excludes polyols. Source: European Union. (references)
 A sweet crystalline substance obtained from various plants, especially the sugar cane and sugar beet, used in cookery, confectionery, brewing, etc. Source: European Union. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Specialty Definition: Carbohydrate

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Glucose - straight-chain form
Fructose - straight-chain form
Ribose - furanose form
Carbohydrates are a basic class of chemical compounds in biochemistry. They are a primary biological means of storing or consuming energy; other forms being fat and protein.

Structure

Pure carbohydrates contain three elements, carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. Usually, these occur in a molar ratio of 1:2:1, giving the general formula CxH2xOx. However, many important carbohydrates deviate from this, such as deoxyribose. Sometimes compounds containing other elements are also counted as carbohydrates, such as chitin, which contains nitrogen.

The simplest carbohydrates are monosaccharides, which are small straight-chain aldehydes and ketones with many hydroxyl groups added, usually one on each carbon except the functional group. Other carbohydrates are composed of monosaccharide units, and break down under hydrolysis. These may be classified as disaccharides, oligosaccharides, or polysaccharides, depending on whether they have two, several, or many monosaccharide units.

Monosaccharides

Monosaccharides may be divided into aldoses, which have an aldehyde group on the first carbon atom, and ketoses, which typically have a ketone group on the second. They may also be divided into trioses, tetroses, pentoses, hexoses, and so forth, depending on how many carbon atoms they contain. For instance, glucose is an aldohexose, fructose a ketohexose, and ribose an aldopentose.

Further, each carbon atom that supports a hydroxyl group (except for the first and last) is optically active, allowing a number of different carbohydrates with the same basic structure. For instance, galactose is an aldohexose, but has different properties from glucose because the atoms are arranged differently.

The straight-chain structure described here is only one of the forms a monosaccharide may take. The aldehyde or ketone group may react with a hydroxyl group on a different carbon atom to form a hemiacetal or hemiketal, in which case there is an oxygen bridge between the two carbon atoms, forming a heterocyclic ring. Rings with five and six atoms are called furanose and pyranose forms, and exist in equilibrium with the straight-chain form.

It should be noted that the ring form has one more optically active carbon than the straight-chain form, and so has both an alpha and a beta form, which interconvert in equilibrium. However, the carbohydrate may further react with an alcohol to form an acetal or ketal, in which case the two forms become distinct. This is the basic type of link between the monosaccharide units of larger carbohydrates.

Disaccharides

The most common disaccharides are sucrose (cane or beet sugar - made from one glucose and one fructose), lactose (milk sugar - made from one glucose and one galactose) and maltose (made of two glucoses).
The formula of these disaccharides is C12H22O11. The binding between the two sugars results in the loss of a hydrogen atom H from one molecule and a hydroxyl group from the other.

Polysaccharides

Starches

Starches are are polymers of glucose. Amylose consists of a linear chain of several hundred of glucose molecules. Amylopectine is a branched molecules made of several thousand of glucose units.
Starches are insoluble in water. They can be digested by hydrolysis done by amylases. Potato, rice, wheat, and maize are major sources of starch in the human diet.

Glycogen

Glycogen is the storage form of glucose in animals. It is a branched polymer of glucose. Glycogen can be broken down to form substrates for respiration, through the process of glycogenolysis. This involves the breaking of most of the C-O-C bonds between the glucose molecules by the addition of a phosphate, rather than a water as in hydrolysis. This process yields phosphorylated glucose molecules, which can be metabolized with a savings of one ATP molecule.

Cellulose

The structural components of plants are primarily cellulose. Wood is largely cellulose and lignin, while paper and cotton are nearly pure cellulose. Cellulose is a polymer made with repeated glucose units.

Nutrition

Strictly speaking, carbohydrates are not necessary for human nutrition because proteins can be converted to carbohydrates - the traditional diet of some peoples consists of nearly zero percent carbohydrate, and they are perfectly healthy. However, they require (relatively) less water to digest than proteins or fats, and are an important source of energy. See also

Biochemistry
Macromolecules

Links:

Top     



Sucrose

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

Sucrose is the chemical name of table sugar.

Composition

Sucrose is a disaccharide composed of one molecule of glucose connected via an α(1-2) glycosidic bond to one molecule of fructose.

Production

Sucrose is generally extracted from sugar cane or sugar beet and then purified and crystallized. Other (minor) commercial sources are sorghum and sugar maples.

Usage

Pure sucrose is the most common sweetener in the modern, industrialized world. People, and in fact most other mammals except members of the cat familiy, will gladly accept a food sweetened with sucrose, even if they aren't hungry. Processed food and junk food often have sucrose added.

Health effects

Sucrose has several adverse health effects. The most common is tooth decay, in which bacteria in the mouth turn sucrose into acid that attacks tooth enamel. Sucrose has a high calorie content and is also believed to cause obesity. People with diabetes need to control their intake of sucrose.

Sugar substitutes

Because of the health effects of sucrose, several substitutes have been developed, although none appear to be as versatile as sugar in cooking and they may have other health consequences.

To do: history, more details on production

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sucrose."

Top     



Sugar

(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)

A sugar is any of several related simple carbohydrates. As most commonly used sugar is a white crystalline solid known as sucrose that is commonly used as a sweetener in food production, and as an additive in drinks such as tea and coffee. Sucrose is a disaccharide, which means each molecule consists of two simple sugar units (a glucose and a fructose) called monosaccharides.

In culinary terms, sugar is a type of food associated with one of the primary taste sensations, that of sweetness.

Culinary sugar is available in many forms, from "brown" or "raw" (which is not truly raw, but refined from sugarcane) to highly refined "white" sugar. Turbinado sugar is raw sugar that has been steam-cleaned. Sugar comes in lumps, grains and powder.

In the Southern United States, sugar is sometimes used to mean diabetes mellitus.

Production

Sugar sucrose is extracted from sugar cane, sugar beets, or sugar palm by a refining process. In the financial year 2001/2002, 134.1 million tonnes of sugar were produced worldwide.

The major cane sugar producing countries are countries with warm climates, such as Australia, Brazil, and Thailand. In 2001/2002 there was over twice as much sugar produced in developing countries as in developed countries. The greatest quantity of sugar is produced in Latin America and the Caribbean nations, and in the Far East.

Ironically, the world's second largest sugar exporter is the EU. Although beet sugar costs four times as much to produce as cane sugar, huge subsidies and a high import tariff make it difficult for other countries to export to the EU, or compete with it on world markets. The U.S. sets high sugar prices to support its producers with the effect that many sugar consumers have switched to corn syrup (beverage manufacturers) or moved out of the country (candy makers).

The raw vegetable material is crushed, and the juice is collected and filtered. The liquid is then treated (often with lime) to remove impurities, this is then neutralised with sulfur dioxide. The juice is then boiled, sediment settles to the bottom and can be dredged out, scum rises to the surface and this is skimmed off. The heat is removed and the liquid crystallises, usually while being stirred, to produce sugar which can be poured into moulds. A centrifuge can also be used during crystallisation.

There is little difference between sugar made from beet and that made from cane, but sophisticated tests can distinguish the two, and have been developed to reduce fraudulent abuse of EU subsidies.

Chemistry

In biochemistry, a sugar is the simplest molecule that can be identified as a carbohydrate. These are monosaccharides and disaccharides. Sugars contain either aldehyde groups (-CHO) or ketone groups (C=O), where there are carbon-oxygen double bonds, making the sugars reactive. Most sugars conform to (CH2O)n where n is between 3 and 7. A notable exception is deoxyribose, which as the name suggests is "missing" an oxygen. As well as being clasified by their reactive group, sugars are also classified by the number of carbons they contain. Derivatives of trioses (C3H6O3) are intermediates in glycolysis. Pentoses include ribose and deoxyribose, which are present in nucleic acids. Ribose is also a component of several chemicals that are important to the metabolic process, including NADH and ATP. Hexoses include glucose which is a universal substrate for the production of energy in the form of ATP. During photosynthesis plants produce glucose which is then stored as starch.

Many pentoses and hexoses are capable of forming ring structures. In these closed-chain forms the aldehyde or ketone group is not free, so many of the reactions typical of these groups cannot occur. Glucose in solution exists mostly as a ring at equilibrium, with less than 0.1% of the molecules in the open-chain form.

Monosaccharides in a closed-chain form can form glycosidic bonds with other monosaccharides, creating disaccharides, such as sucrose, and polysaccharides such as starch. Glycosidic bonds must be hydrolised or otherwise broken by enzymes before such compounds can be used in metabolism.

The term "glyco-" indicates the presence of a sugar in an otherwise non-carbohydrate substance: for example, a glycoprotein is a protein to which one or more sugars are connected.

Simple sugars include sucrose, fructose, glucose, maltose and mannose.

Sucrose can be converted by hydrolysis into fructose and glucose, producing what is called inverted sugar. This resulting sugar is sweeter than the original sucrose, and is useful for making confections sweeter and softer in texture.

History

Sugar cane has long been known in tropical areas of the world, and was chewed raw to extract its sweetness. Later sugar refining was developed in the Middle East, India and China, where it became a staple of cooking and desserts. Later sugar spread to other areas of the world through trade. It arrived in Europe with the arrival of the Moors. Crusaders also brought sugar home with them after their campaigns in the Holy Land. While sugar cane could not be grown in Europe, sugar beets could and these began to be widely cultivated.

With the European colonization of the new world the Caribbean became the world's largest source of sugar. Sugar cane could be grown on these islands using slave labour at vastly lower prices than sugar beets could be grown in Europe, or cane sugar imported from the East. Thus the economies of entire islands such as Tobago, Guadaloupe, and Barbados were based on sugar production. Sugar prices fell, especially in Britain, and what had previously been a luxury good began, by the eighteenth century, to be commonly consumed by all levels of society. At first most sugar in Britain was used in tea, but later candies and chocolates became extremely popular. Sugar was commonly sold in solid cones and required a sugar nip, a plyers-like tool, to break off pieces.

Sugar cane quickly exhausts the soil and production soon fell dramatically in the Caribbean. Production thus spread to South America as well as to new European colonies in Africa. While it is no longer grown by slaves, sugar growing continues to this day to be associated with workers earning minimal wages and living in extreme poverty. Cuba was a large producer of sugar in the 20th century until the collapse of the Soviet Union took away their export market and the industry collapsed.

See also: sweetener, glycomics Sugar is also the stagename of actress, voice actress and television and radio personality, Stephanie Beard.

Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Sugar."

Top     

Abbreviations & Acronyms: Sugar

The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted.
EntrySourceExpressionField
FB SugarEnglishFasting Blood SugarMedicine

Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references).

Top     

Synonyms: Sugar

Synonyms: carbohydrate (n), refined sugar (n), saccharide (n), saccharify (v). (additional references)

Top     

Synonyms within Context: Sugar

ContextSynonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus).

Bitterness

Phrase: bitter as gall; bitter pill to take; sugar coating on a bitter pill.

Convexity

Tooth, knob, elbow, process, apophysis, condyle, bulb, node, nodule, nodosity, tongue, dorsum, bump, clump; sugar loaf; (sharpness); bow; mamelon; molar; belly, corporation, pot belly, gut; withers, back, shoulder, lip, flange.

Favorite

Love, dear, darling, duck, duckey, honey, sugar, jewel; mopsey, moppet, princess; sweetheart, sweetie; (love).

Pain

Loveliness; (beauty); sunny side, bright side; sweets; (sugar); goodness; manna in the wilderness, land flowing with milk and honey; bittersweet; fair weather.

Receptacle

Compote, gravy boat, creamer, sugar bowl, butter dish, mug, pitcher, punch bowl, chafing dish.

Sharpness

Crag, crest, arete, cone peak, sugar loaf, pike, aiguille; spire, pyramid, steeple.

Sweetness

Sugar, syrup, treacle, molasses, honey, manna; confection, confectionary; sweets, grocery, conserve, preserve, confiture, jam, julep; sugar-candy, sugar-plum; licorice, marmalade, plum, lollipop, bonbon, jujube, comfit, sweetmeat; apple butter, caramel, damson, glucose; maple sirup, maple syrup, maple sugar; mithai, sorghum, taffy.

Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus.

Top     

Crosswords: Sugar

English words defined with "sugar": Barley sugar, beet sugar, brain sugar, brown sugarcane sugar, caramelized sugarfruit sugargrape sugarloaf sugar, lump sugarmalt sugar, maple sugar, milk sugar, Muscle sugarsimple sugar, spun sugar, starch sugar, Strike of sugar, Sugar baker's itch, Sugar barek, sugar beet, sugar bowl, Sugar bush, Sugar camp, Sugar candian, sugar candy, sugar cane, sugar cookie, sugar loaf, sugar maple, Sugar mill, Sugar mite, Sugar orchard, sugar pine, sugar refinery, sugar shell, sugar spoon, sugar syrup, Sugar tongs, Sugar tree, sugar waterwood sugar. (references)
Specialty definitions using "sugar": control board operator, sugar refiningfermentable sugarLoan forfeiture level, sugarnon-fermentable sugarPhosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System, pulling machine for sugarsugar almonds, Sugar and Honey, sugar coated good, SUGAR CONTROLLER, sugar drier, SUGAR GRINDER, SUGAR PRESSER, Sugar price support program, Sugar re-export programs, sugar sand, SUGAR SOPS, SUGAR STICK, SUPERVISOR, POWDERED SUGAR, SUPERVISOR, SOFT SUGAR, SUPERVISOR, SUGAR HOUSE, syntactic sugar. (references)
Etymologies containing "sugar": sucrose. (references)
Non-English Usage: "Sugar" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses.

Portuguese (absorb, milk, suck), Romanian (a child at the breast, child, nurseling, sucker).

Top     

Modern Usage: Sugar

DomainUsage

Screenplays

I need sugar. I'm getting cranky (Enemy of the State; writing credit: David Marconi)

Single-serving sugar, single-serving cream, single pat of butter (Fight Club; writing credit: Jim Uhls)

Do you, like, anally rape my mother while pouring sugar in my gas tank (Clerks.; writing credit: Kevin Smith)

Hold on, Sugar! Daddy's got a sweet tooth tonight (The Mask; writing credit: Michael Fallon; Mark Verheiden)

Gimmie some sugar, baby (Army of Darkness; writing credit: Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi)

Lyrics

Pour your sugar on me, oh, I can't get enough (Pour Some Sugar On Me; performing artist: Def Leppard)

Brown sugar how come you taste so good (BROWN SUGAR; performing artist: Rolling Stones)

Temperatures rise inside my sugar walls (Sugar Walls; performing artist: Sheena Easton)

See sugar I dont wanna (I Don't Wanna; performing artist: Aaliyah)

But I don't care for sugar honey if I can't have you (Walking On Broken Glass; performing artist: Annie Lennox)

Clever

You are an engineer if your 4 basic food groups are: 1. Caffeine, 2. Fat, 3. Sugar, 4. Chocolate. (references; author: unknown)

Movie/TV Titles

From Harlem to Sugar Hill (1968)

Sugar Colt (1966)

Adventures of a Sugar Doll (1965)

Sugar Hill Times (1949)

Down Among the Sugar Cane (1932)

Song Titles

Sugar, Sugar (performing artist: The Archies)

Sugar Shack (performing artist: Jimmy Gilmer and The Fireballs)

A Spoonful of Sugar (performing artist: Mary Poppins)

SUGAR TOWN  (performing artist: Nancy Sinatra )

Sugar Baby Love (performing artist: Rubettes)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Commercial Usage: Sugar

DomainTitle

References

  • The 2000 Import and Export Market for Sugar Confectionery and Other Sugar Preparations in Austria (reference)

  • American Crystal Sugar Company: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Ansari Sugar Mills Ltd: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Baba Farid Sugar Mills Limited: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

  • Mirpurkhas Sugar Mills Limited: International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis (reference)

    (more reference examples)

  

Books

  • Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat (reference)

  • Richard Brautigan's Trout Fishing in America, The Pill versus The Springhill Mine Disaster, and In Watermelon Sugar (reference)

  • The Allergy-Free Cookbook: Dairy Free, Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Egg Free, No Added Sugar (reference)

  • The Sugar Addict's Total Recovery Program (reference)

  • Your Last Diet!: The Sugar Addict's Weight-Loss Plan (reference)

    (more book examples)

  

Periodicals

  

Theater & Movies

  

Music

  

High Tech

  

Consumer Goods

  • Mikasa Crown Jewel Platinum Bone China Covered Sugar Bowl (reference)

  • Pfaltzgraff April Sugar and Creamer Set (reference)

  • Johnson Brothers Old Britain Castles Pink Dinnerware Covered Sugar Bowl (reference)

  • Mikasa Checkmate Charcoal Stoneware Sugar and Creamer Set (reference)

  • Lenox Butler's Pantry Earthenware Sugar Bowl (reference)

    (more baby examples; more wireless phone examples; more garden examples; more kitchen examples; more tool examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Image Slideshow: Sugar

Photos:
Sugar

More pictures...

Illustrations:
Sugar

More pictures...

Computer Images:
Sugar

More pictures...

Top     

Photo Album: Sugar

ThumbnailDescription & CreditThumbnailDescription & Credit

(7) color slides show a single bowl of cooked hot cereal, oatmeal. (3) with milk, (2) plain, (2) topped with brown sugar or maple syrup. Credit: Renee Comet (photographer).

Shows interior wide shot of Sugar Chemistry Room at Central Cancer Research Labs in 1931. A man and a woman in white lab coats work at lab table. Credit: Unknown photographer/artist.

Ruthenium red stains the sugar portions of the glycoprotein molecules. Credit: CDC.

Beautiful sugar maples in fall folliage. Credit: Tim McCabe.

Sugar Creek grade stabilization structure. Oklahoma. Credit: Jeff Vanuga.

Farmstead with sugar maple tree in foreground. Credit: USDA.

Cutting sugar cane in Louisianna. Credit: USDA.

Sugarcane harvested and loaded into high dump trailers in Bunkie, Louisiana, will be transferred into trucks for shipment to a sugar mill. Photo by David Nance. Credit: USDA ARS News.

After analyzing hundreds of samples, ARS researchers wrote the definitive report on the composition and properties of honeys. These findings made it possible to detect the addition of other substances to honey. A side benefit was discovery of a new sugar in honey, which was named erlose, after ARS's Eastern Regional Research Laboratory. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer..

Root-rotting fungi can weaken, stunt, or kill sugar beet plants. Here, geneticist Leonard Panella evaluates sugar beet plants for resistance to the fungal disease Rhizoctonia root rot. P. Credit: USDA ARS News; photo by Scott Bauer..

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Top     

Digital Photo Gallery: Sugar
 

"Sugar Cookies" by Vikki Hansen
Commentary: "Christmas sugar cookies."
"Sugar" by Joanna Kopik
Commentary: "Sugar cubes arranged in a pattern."

Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers.

Top     

Familiar Quotations: Sugar

AuthorQuotation

William Cowper

I pity them greatly, but I must be mum, for how could we do without sugar and rum?

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Historic Usage: Sugar

AuthorDateQuotation

John Locke

1690

Nor is it so strange, as perhaps before consideration it may appear, that the property of labour should be able to over-balance the community of land: for it is labour indeed that puts the difference of value on every thing; and let any one consider what the difference is between an acre of land planted with tobacco or sugar, sown with wheat or barley, and an acre of the same land lying in common, without any husbandry upon it, and he will find, that the improvement of labour makes the far greater part of the value. (Second Treatise of Government)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Use in Literature: Sugar

TitleAuthorQuote

Les Miserables

Hugo, Victor

it is that of nibbling sugar.

Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck, John

He pulled a little bag from under the counter, whipped it open and scooped some sugar into it, weighed the bag, and added a little more sugar

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Non-Fiction Usage: Sugar

SubjectTopicQuote

Health

Controlling your blood sugar. (references)

Avoid sugar and foods high in sugar. (references)

However, blood sugar levels are normal. (references)

Business

The main buyers for tractors are sugar, melon and coffee producers. (references)

In 2000 sugar production is expected to increase by 3.5 percent due to very good yields. (references)

The most important agricultural products produced in Guatemala are coffee, sugar and bananas. (references)

Economic History

South Africa

Tobacco, tea and sugar are the key export crops. (references)

Mexico

Colima farmers primarily grow lemon and sugar cane. (references)

Guyana

Sugar and rice are two of the country's largest exports. (references)

Indigenous People

Panama

Even when working in close proximity to each other, indigenous laborers in the country's sugar, coffee, and banana plantations work under worse conditions than their nonindigenous counterparts. (references)

Minorities

Dominican Republic

Perhaps 500,000 Haitian immigrants--or 7 percent of the country's population--live in shantytowns or sugar cane work camps, in harsh conditions with limited or no electricity, running water, or schooling. (references)

Political Economy

Guyana

Rice, sugar, bauxite, gold, shrimp, and timber are the major exports. (references)

Trade

Lithuania

Lithuania licenses imports of sugar, grain, alcohol and arms. (references)

Costa Rica

Sugar exports are regulated by LAICA, a producers' organization. (references)

Uzbekistan

The export of subsidized products, such as flour and sugar, is prohibited. (references)

Travel

Kenya

Periodic shortages of milk, sugar, flour, etc. (references)

Mauritius

Four-star hotels include the Labourdonnais Waterfront, La Pirogue, Maritim, Le Mauricia, Shandrani, Meridien Brabant, Coco Beach, Sugar Beach, Berjaya, Le Canonnier, Beau Rivage. (references)

Worker Rights

Trinidad and Tobago

Prime Minister Panday formerly was president of the Sugar Workers' Union. (references)

Lexicography

Devil's Dictionary

STORY, n. A narrative, commonly untrue. The truth of the stories here following has, however, not been successfully impeached. One evening Mr. Rudolph Block, of New York, found himself seated at dinner alongside Mr. Percival Pollard, the distinguished critic. "Mr. Pollard," said he, "my book, The Biography of a Dead Cow, is published anonymously, but you can hardly be ignorant of its authorship. Yet in reviewing it you speak of it as the work of the Idiot of the Century. Do you think that fair criticism?" "I am very sorry, sir," replied the critic, amiably, "but it did not occur to me that you really might not wish the public to know who wrote it." Mr. W.C. Morrow, who used to live in San Jose, California, was addicted to writing ghost stories which made the reader feel as if a stream of lizards, fresh from the ice, were streaking it up his back and hiding in his hair. San Jose was at that time believed to be haunted by the visible spirit of a noted bandit named Vasquez, who had been hanged there. The town was not very well lighted, and it is putting it mildly to say that San Jose was reluctant to be out o' nights. One particularly dark night two gentlemen were abroad in the loneliest spot within the city limits, talking loudly to keep up their courage, when they came upon Mr. J.J. Owen, a well-known journalist. "Why, Owen," said one, "what brings you here on such a night as this? You told me that this is one of Vasquez' favorite haunts! And you are a believer. Aren't you afraid to be out?" "My dear fellow," the journalist replied with a drear autumnal cadence in his speech, like the moan of a leaf-laden wind, "I am afraid to be in. I have one of Will Morrow's stories in my pocket and I don't dare to go where there is light enough to read it." Rear-Admiral Schley and Representative Charles F. Joy were standing near the Peace Monument, in Washington, discussing the question, Is success a failure? Mr. Joy suddenly broke off in the middle of an eloquent sentence, exclaiming: "Hello! I've heard that band before. Santlemann's, I think." "I don't hear any band," said Schley. "Come to think, I don't either," said Joy; "but I see General Miles coming down the avenue, and that pageant always affects me in the same way as a brass band. One has to scrutinize one's impressions pretty closely, or one will mistake their origin." While the Admiral was digesting this hasty meal of philosophy General Miles passed in review, a spectacle of impressive dignity. When the tail of the seeming procession had passed and the two observers had recovered from the transient blindness caused by its effulgence -- "He seems to be enjoying himself," said the Admiral. "There is nothing," assented Joy, thoughtfully, "that he enjoys one-half so well." The illustrious statesman, Champ Clark, once lived about a mile from the village of Jebigue, in Missouri. One day he rode into town on a favorite mule, and, hitching the beast on the sunny side of a street, in front of a saloon, he went inside in his character of teetotaler, to apprise the barkeeper that wine is a mocker. It was a dreadfully hot day. Pretty soon a neighbor came in and seeing Clark, said: "Champ, it is not right to leave that mule out there in the sun. He'll roast, sure! -- he was smoking as I passed him." "O, he's all right," said Clark, lightly; "he's an inveterate smoker." The neighbor took a lemonade, but shook his head and repeated that it was not right. He was a conspirator. There had been a fire the night before: a stable just around the corner had burned and a number of horses had put on their immortality, among them a young colt, which was roasted to a rich nut-brown. Some of the boys had turned Mr. Clark's mule loose and substituted the mortal part of the colt. Presently another man entered the saloon. "For mercy's sake!" he said, taking it with sugar, "do remove that mule, barkeeper: it smells." "Yes," interposed Clark, "that animal has the best nose in Missouri. But if he doesn't mind, you shouldn't." In the course of human events Mr. Clark went out, and there, apparently, lay the incinerated and shrunken remains of his charger. The boys idd not have any fun out of Mr. Clarke, who looked at the body and, with the non-committal expression to which he owes so much of his political preferment, went away. But walking home late that night he saw his mule standing silent and solemn by the wayside in the misty moonlight. Mentioning the name of Helen Blazes with uncommon emphasis, Mr. Clark took the back track as hard as ever he could hook it, and passed the night in town. General H.H. Wotherspoon, president of the Army War College, has a pet rib-nosed baboon, an animal of uncommon intelligence but imperfectly beautiful. Returning to his apartment one evening, the General was surprised and pained to find Adam (for so the creature is named, the general being a Darwinian) sitting up for him and wearing his master's best uniform coat, epaulettes and all. "You confounded remote ancestor!" thundered the great strategist, "what do you mean by being out of bed after naps? -- and with my coat on!" Adam rose and with a reproachful look got down on all fours in the manner of his kind and, scuffling across the room to a table, returned with a visiting-card: General Barry had called and, judging by an empty champagne bottle and several cigar-stumps, had been hospitably entertained while waiting. The general apologized to his faithful progenitor and retired. The next day he met General Barry, who said: "Spoon, old man, when leaving you last evening I forgot to ask you about those excellent cigars. Where did you get them?" General Wotherspoon did not deign to reply, but walked away. "Pardon me, please," said Barry, moving after him; "I was joking of course. Why, I knew it was not you before I had been in the room fifteen minutes."

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Top     

Spoken Usage: Sugar

SpeakerPhrase(s)

Robert Atkins

Well, basically, it's about refined carbohydrates. That's sugar and flour, those are the refined carbohydrates.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Speeches: Sugar

SpeakerTermPhrase(s)

Jimmy Carter

1977-1981The agreement is an important element in our international commodity policy with far-reaching implications for our relations with developing countries, particularly sugar producers in Latin America.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Top     

Usage Frequency: Sugar

"Sugar" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 94.26% of the time. "Sugar" is used about 3,430 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted)
Parts of SpeechPercentUsage per
100 Million Words
Rank in English
Noun (singular)94.26%3,2342,934
Noun (proper)5.68%19521,939
Lexical Verb (infinitive)0.06%2245,945
                    Total100.00%3,430N/A

Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Name Usage Frequency: Sugar

The following table summarizes the usage of "sugar" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified.
NameUsage/GenderUsage per 100
million Persons
Rank in USA
SugarLast name40021,198
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.

Top     

Usage in Company Names: Sugar

CountryNameCountryName
Greece

Hellenic Sugar Industry (HSI) SA

India

Belsund Sugar & Industries Ltd.

Japan

Ensuiko Sugar Refining Co., Ltd.

Pakistan

Ansari Sugar Mills Ltd

South Africa

Illovo Sugar Limited

USA

American Crystal Sugar Company

 (more examples...)  

Source: compiled by the editor from Icon Group International, Inc.

Top     

Expressions: Sugar

Expressions using "sugar": a coffee with milk and sugar Acorn sugar Alan Michael Sugar Trading barley sugar bastard sugar beet sugar beetroot sugar blood sugar brain sugar brown sugar burnt sugar candied sugar cane sugar caramelized sugar caster sugar castor sugar confectioners sugar confectioner's sugar confectioners' sugar corn sugar cube sugar cut sugar demerara sugar Diabetes sugar Diabetic sugar fermentable sugar fruit sugar granulated sugar grape sugar heart sugar Horse sugar icing sugar invert sugar Licorice sugar loaf sugar Low Blood Sugar lump of sugar lump sugar malt sugar Manna sugar maple sugar milk sugar muscle sugar native sugar nest sugar palm sugar Phosphoenolpyruvate Sugar Phosphotransferase System pine sugar please pass me the sugar potato sugar powdered sugar pulling machine for sugar raw sugar refined sugar season with sugar simple sugar spun sugar starch sugar strike of sugar Sugar Alcohol Dehydrogenases Sugar Alcohols sugar almond sugar almonds sugar apple sugar baby sugar baker's itch sugar barek sugar basin sugar beet sugar berry sugar bird sugar bowl sugar bush Sugar Bush Knolls sugar camp sugar candian sugar candy sugar cane sugar cane plantation Sugar City sugar coat sugar coated sugar coated good sugar coating on a bitter pill sugar confections sugar cookie sugar corn Sugar Creek sugar cubes sugar daddy Sugar Grove Sugar Hill Sugar Land sugar loaf sugar lump sugar maple sugar melon sugar mill sugar mite Sugar Mountain Sugar Notch. Additional references.

Hyphenated Usage

Beginning with "sugar": sugar-acid, sugar-addicted, sugar-almond, sugar-and-vanilla-scented, sugar-baker, sugar-based, sugar-basin, sugar-beet, sugar-boom, sugar-bowl, sugar-box, sugar-buns, sugar-bush, sugar-cane, sugar-coat, sugar-coated, sugar-coated peel, sugar-coated pill, sugar-coating, sugar-containing, sugar-crystals, sugar-cube, sugar-cubes, sugar-daddies, sugar-daddy, sugar-derived, sugar-doll, sugar-dusted, sugar-factories, sugar-filled, sugar-free, sugar-frost, sugar-frosting, sugar-glazed, sugar-glider, Sugar-house, sugar-jar, sugar-like, sugar-loaded, sugar-loaf, sugar-loaf sea, sugar-lump, sugar-lumps, sugar-manufacture, sugar-master, sugar-mill, sugar-mills, sugar-mouse, sugar-pastry, sugar-phosphate, sugar-pie, sugar-pine, sugar-pink, sugar-plantation, sugar-plum, sugar-precursors, sugar-processing, sugar-producer, sugar-producing, sugar-reduced, sugar-refinery, sugar-refining, sugar-related, sugar-rich, sugar-running, sugar-sand, sugar-shaker, sugar-some, sugar-spun, sugar-stick, sugar-strewn, sugar-sweet, sugar-tongs, sugar-trading, sugar-transporting, sugar-yards.

Ending with "sugar": blood-sugar, high-sugar, low-sugar, reduced-sugar, S-sugar.

Containing "sugar": barley-sugar-stick.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Frequency of Internet Keywords: Sugar

The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com.
 
ExpressionFrequency
per Day
ExpressionFrequency
per Day

sugar ray

3,157

high blood sugar

198

sugar glider

2,444

sugar daddy

189

sugar

1,621

sugar hill gang

171

sugar land texas

1,247

sugar free dessert

171

sugar busters

1,034

maple sugar

167

low blood sugar

644

sugar substitute

163

sugar shoes

536

sugar and spice

152

sugar cookie recipe

506

pour some sugar on me

149

brown sugar

475

sugar diabetes

144

blood sugar

473

sugar shack

142

sugar cookie

375

normal blood sugar level

134

blood sugar level

363

sugar ray leonard

124

sugar free recipe

339

sugar cult

118

sugar busters diet

313

sugar free chocolate

115

sugar alcohol

280

resort sugar mountain nc

110

sugar for sugar

271

big sugar

106

sugar ray lyrics

260

sugar free ice cream

106

sugar free candy

238

domino sugar

105

sugar free

230

sugar free cake recipe

103

cane sugar

212

low blood sugar symptom

100
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Top     

Modern Translation: Sugar

Language Translations for "sugar"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses.

Afrikaans

  

suiker. (various references)

   

Albanian

  

sheqeri, sheqer. (various references)

   

Arabic 

  

‏قطعة سكر, ‏حلى (adorn, candy, sugar coat, sweeten), ‏تسكر, ‏تبلر, ‏سكر (candy, conserve, fluster, get drunk, intoxicant, liquor, sloshed, souse, sweeten, take to drink, tank up), ‏عزيزي (my good man), ‏عزيزتي (beloved, my good lady). (various references)

   

Asturian

  

azucre. (various references)

   

Basque

  

azukre. (various references)

   

Bemba

  

suga. (various references)

   

Blackfoot

  

náápiiniiwan. (various references)

   

Bulgarian 

  

сладки думи, хвалба (praise, vaunt), захароза (saccharose), захарен (saccharic, saccharine, sugary), захар, лаская (adulate, beslaver, blarney, cajole, carny, coax, flatter, incense, jolly, palaver, sawder, soap, soft soap), подслаждам (dulcify, honey, season, sugar coat, sweeten). (various references)

   

Cebuano

  

asukar. (various references)

   

Chamorro

  

asukat. (various references)

   

Chinese 

  

(candy, sweets). (various references)

   

Cornish

  

sugra. (various references)

   

Czech

  

cukr (comfit). (various references)

   

Danish

  

sukker (saccharum, sugar-cane, sugars). (various references)

   

Dutch

  

suiker. (various references)

   

Esperanto

  

sukero. (various references)

   

Faeroese

  

sukur. (various references)

   

Farsi 

  

متبلورشدن قند, ماده>=<دی , تبدیل به شکرکردن , شیرینی (Amiability, Bonbon, Confection, Confetti, Cookie, Cooky, Goody, Pastry), شیرین کردن (Candy, Soften, Sweeten), شکر, باشکرمخلوطکردن . (various references)

   

Finnish

  

sokeri (carbohydrate, sugars). (various references)

   

French

  

sucre (sucre, sugar-cane). (various references)

   

Frisian

  

sûker. (various references)

   

German

  

Zucker (sugary). (various references)

   

Greek 

  

ζάχαρη (cube, sucrose), σάκχαρο (diabetes, sucrose). (various references)

   

Hebrew 

  

להמתיק (mitigate, modify, mollify, sugar coat, sweeten), לסכר (sugarcoat), סוכר. (