Talk:Sugar candy

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Question for international English readership: what is Sugar Candy?

I am becoming increasingly worried about the article's contention that sugar candy is a synonym for confectionery in American English. A quick Google search gives me only three online dictionary definitions for "sugar candy" (two of which I have just cited in the lead), and they state the word is rarely used. And only one of them, the British (!) Collins dictionary, claims that in American English, "sugar candy" can also mean confectionery. Furthermore, a Google search for "candy" (American word for confectionery) and for "sweet" (British word for confectionery) yields 900 million and 600 million hits respectively, whereas a search for "sugar candy" yields less than half a million hits.

So my question to you, Reader, is, what does "sugar candy" mean where you live? Do you use the word at all? 86.158.154.4 (talk) 16:14, 2 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]

You're going at it from the wrong direction. The way writing a Wikipedia article works is like this:
  1. Pick a subject for an article. In this case, the subject of the article is "all the different kinds of prepared foods that are made with a lot of sugar" (specifically, ≥75% sugar by weight).
  2. Figure out what a reasonable title for that is, given constraints such as whether you're writing the article in American or British English. (All of the articles on this general subject happen to be written in American English, which seems to have caused some confusion for you.) In this case, a reasonable title for the subject of the article, since we're using American English, is "sugar candy". Therefore, that's the title.
Sugar candy is not a synonym for confectionery, and no article should be suggesting that. Sugar candy (using American English throughout) is a sub-type of candy, which in turn is a sub-type of sugar confectionery, which in turn is a sub-type of confectionery. Moving in the other direction, hard candy (your "boiled sweets") is a sub-type of sugar candy, a lollipop is a sub-type of hard candy, and Dum Dums (lollipop) are a brand of lollipop. WhatamIdoing (talk) 07:43, 20 February 2018 (UTC)[reply]
Hi WhatamIdoing. How about starting a new article with an accurate new title such as "sugar-rich candy" or better, "sugar-rich confectionery" or "high-sugar confectionery"? Such a new title would avoid a clash between your "private" definition of sugar candy and the dictionary definition of sugar candy. Your material is useful and deserves to be clearly understood by Wikipedia readers. 86.167.181.76 (talk) 10:34, 2 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]
There's no need for a new article; Wikipedia should have exactly one article about prepared foods that are ≥75% sugar by weight, and this is it. If you meant that you want a new article title, then you can use the Wikipedia:Requested moves process to recommend renaming this article. Generally people will want to see evidence that your new name is used in some Wikipedia:Reliable sources WhatamIdoing (talk) 00:02, 10 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Brownie

Ray 41.114.215.119 (talk) 12:44, 20 February 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Why is there no cotton candy in this article?

Why is there no cotton candy in this article? 151.197.55.253 (talk) 16:43, 1 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]

It could, if we had a source for it. Since it's pretty much 100% sugar (very low amount of water) and cooked to the clear liquid stage (see Candy making), it's probably a "hard candy", even though it's so thin and fine that it feels soft to touch. WhatamIdoing (talk) 05:33, 2 October 2023 (UTC)[reply]