Häagen-Dazs

English

Etymology

Pseudo-loan from Danish. The name was coined by the creator of the brand, who intended it to seem Danish to honour Denmark for aiding Jews during the Holocaust, but to be unique. The words have no meaning and Danish does not actually use the letter ä or the digraph zs.^[1]^[2]

The Hong Kong pronunciation is influenced by Cantonese 哈根大師／哈根大师 (haa¹ gan¹ daai⁶ si¹).

Pronunciation

enPR: häʹgəndäs', häʹgəndäz', IPA^(key): /ˈhɑː.ɡənˌdɑːs/, /ˈhɑː.ɡənˌdɑːz/
(Hong Kong) IPA^(key): /ˈhɑː.ɡən.daɪs/

Proper noun

Häagen-Dazs

Ice cream of a certain high-end brand.
- 1992, James Melson, The Golden Boy, page 194:
  In my depression I was back gorging on two pints of Haagen Dazs a night.
- 1995, Sam Stall, “First Babies”, in Indianapolis Monthly, October 1995, ISSN 0899-0328, page 126:
  As far as cravings go, she’s taken a somewhat greater-than-normal interest in mashed potatoes and corn, but the governor hasn’t yet made any 2 a.m. runs to Village Pantry for a pint of Haagen-Dazs.
- 2006, Betty Londergan, I'm Too Sexy for My Volvo: A Mom's Guide to Staying Fabulous, page 44:
  Bonus! A side of liposuction with your c-section! Of course, my doctor was a big killjoy and looked at me like I was overdosing on Haagen-Dazs when I suggested it, but I thought it was a great idea.
- 2007, Shiloh Walker, One of the Guys, page 42:
  “So you get an invitation to the wedding from hell and instead of crying or calling me or overdosing on Häagen-Dazs, or all three, you drink an entire bottle of expensive wine and cut your hair.”
- 2007 October 25, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, season 1, episode 5:
  BELLE: Would you, erm, like to hang out sometime?
  NAOMI: Does it involve shagging?
  BELLE: No.
  NAOMI: Does it involve eating Häagen-Dazs and watching Pretty Woman?
  BELLE: Christ, no.
- 2012, Debbi Rawlins, Barefoot Blue Jean Night, page 22:
  When she wasn't gallivanting about the globe, gathering interesting tidbits for her travel blog, she adored holing up for days at a time with a few pints of Häagen-Dazs, leaving only to go for a dip in the rooftop pool or for a workout in the building's fitness club.

References

^ 2005, Joan Nathan, The New American Cooking
^ Joan Nathan (2012 August 2) “Ice Cream's Jewish Innovators”, in Tablet Magazine‎^[1]:
How did a Polish immigrant come up with a name like Häagen-Dazs? He was inspired by Jewish history: “The only country which saved the Jews during World War II was Denmark, so I put together a totally fictitious Danish name and had it registered,” Mattus told me. “Häagen-Dazs doesn’t mean anything. [But] it would attract attention, especially with the umlaut.”