Internet Debate of the Day: Is It "Ice Tea" or "Iced Tea"?
We aren't going to solve World Peace today . . . it's a Friday . . . BUT that doesn't mean we can't debate a slightly smaller problem.
Like: Is it ICE TEA . . . or ICED TEA? (???)
A (strangely comprehensive) poll asked more than 10,000 Americans . . . and 49% of them say it's ICED tea. 20% say ICE tea. And 27% say BOTH are cool.
This seems like it would be a regional thing, but if you break it down by the different areas of the country, there aren't any noticeable spikes.
However, if you break it down by AGE, younger adults are much more likely to spell it ICE tea. And when broken by RACE, Black and Hispanic people are more likely to say it's ICE tea.
According to grammar websites, neither are wrong, but the original term was ICED tea. But this shift HAS happened before . . . both ice cream and ice water were originally iced cream and iced water. And no one says "iced cream" anymore, right?
Originally posted on July 28th, 2023