Talk:Nonpareils

A blast from the past
The request to merge this article with sprinkles came shortly after I created it, while I was in the process of expanding the sprinkles article. Sprinkles are a general term. Nonpareil is specific and historic, dating back at least 250 years. I was going to research the history of nonpareils in France for this article, but I will not bother if it is going to be merged with sprinkles. Ditto dragées, which I now hesitate to even approach.

Strongly oppose merging but please let me know how serious you are before I waste any more of my time --Mothperson 15:55, 19 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Abstain It was just a sensible suggestion. --Wetman 19:13, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Thank you. Nice touch, adding that adjective,though. (Wasn't, either!) --Mothperson 20:31, 20 Jun 2005 (UTC)

(From Wetman's Talkpage:
 * "You've put a request for merge on two articles I'm working on, without much thought as far as I can tell, and without bothering to write up a good reason. Now you're "abstaining" after my protest, but you're leaving me with the templates in place? That's the process? You're an administrator??? Surely, if you can get rid of my posts to this page so quickly, you can also get rid of the no-not-sensible request to merge? Or do the wheels just keep on turning? --Mothperson 00:07, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)"

This is part of why I am not an administrator. My time is almost as limited as my patience. I would not have made any suggestion, however reasonable, if I had noticed Mothperson fluttering about in this particular sweaterbox ...whom I dimly recall having inadvertently frenzified before. Oh well....)

That's a great answer. Dismiss the question, and leave your droppings uncollected. I suppose that is the aquarium way, Wetman. Why do I suddenly feel like I'm in a bad Seinfeld episode? Mothperson 02:37, 21 Jun 2005 (UTC)

Translation
Just so we're clear, "egal" is French for "equal", as in their country's motto, "Egalite" (i.e., "equality").

"Pareil" means "similar", so, "non pareil" means "without similarity", which, idiomatically, means "without peer".

In other words, although "equal" and "peer" are synonymous in English, they have a different meaning to the French.

Skaizun (talk) 21:47, 16 August 2009 (UTC)

Contradiction: please clarify.
Under the Sprinkles article, we're told,

'Some American manufacturers deem the elongated opaque sprinkles the official sprinkles. In British English, these are sugar strands or hundreds-and-thousands (the latter term is often used to refer to the multi-colored [rather than the chocolate] type and has the singular form "negligible").'

Yet now we're told that the round nonpareils are hundreds-and-thousands in the UK. Please clarify, as we need consistency (unless there is in fact no consistency, a situation which would still need clarification).Alrewas (talk) 13:56, 15 October 2013 (UTC)

Licking Freckles?
The "Chocolate nonpareils" section reads "A common way of eating these in Australia is to lick the coloured top and place it to ones skin so when removed it leaves coloured dots or "freckles" as the name refers to." The source links to an archived online shopfront that simply advertises " Chocolate Freckles; 8 delectable large milk chocolate freckles. An Aussie lolly favourite in the shop." I'm Australian, and a lifelong consumer of freckles. I also know a bunch of kids, and I have never seen or heard of anyone of any age licking them and sticking them to your face to create actual "freckles." It certainly isn't a "common" way to eat them. Can I request a better source or a deletion?Sadiemonster (talk) 08:15, 24 October 2014 (UTC)

"Fairy bread" - UK?
"In the UK, Australia and New Zealand, nonpareils are known as "hundreds-and-thousands", and are often eaten on top of patty cakes or on buttered bread as "fairy bread" They're known as 'hundreds & thousands' here yes, but having lived all my life in the UK I've never come across this - and the article on fairy bread itself makes no mention of the UK, just the Anzacs.

I'm loathe to change it myself in case it's something common in some regions but I just haven't come across in the areas I've lived in - but if not, the two statements need to be separated. Ride the Hurricane (talk) 12:44, 14 February 2015 (UTC)

Merger proposal with Sprinkles and Muisjes
I propose that the two Wikipedia articles Sprinkles and Muisjes be merged into the article Nonpareils. All three articles seem to describe a tiny sugar-candy, sometimes called "hundreds and thousands" in Great Britain, used to decorate cakes, etc. Naturally, we could still have redirects from Sprinkles and Muisjes to the combined article. I think that the three articles have a good deal of overlap, and none of the articles are so long as to cause problems if the three were to be combined into one. Objectivesea (talk) 23:53, 22 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I think nonpareils are less generic? They'd make sense as a subsection of the sprinkles article, I think. So I'm weakly in favour of a merge. &mdash;ajf (talk) 23:56, 22 June 2015 (UTC)


 * I don't mind which of them becomes the final article; merging Nonpareils and Muisjes into Sprinkles would be equally fine by me, if that is the consensus. We'll have redirects from the two former articles anyway, once their content is added to the chosen combining page. Objectivesea (talk) 00:28, 23 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Well, I object to including muisjes in the merge, if only because they're not (pure) sugar. Nonpareils and sprinkles look the same to me and seem to fulfill the same function, but muisjes are very specific (and different) things. For one thing, they're only used on two things, bread and beschuit (rusk). For another, their "essence" is in the anise seed, not in the sugar, and anise is not an ingredient in the other two. Now, the Dutch term equivalent to "sprinkles" is Hagelslag, and that's already a redirect to Sprinkles. Note also that Sprinkles mentions nonpareils as if they're the topic of the article. So, no, I do not favor muisjes to be merged/redirected: they are essentially a very different product. (And I think "sprinkles" is a more general term than "nonpareils", but I'm no expert.) Thanks Objectivesea, Drmies (talk) 00:58, 23 June 2015 (UTC)

* Support merge for all. E. Feld talk 01:42, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Support merge for sprinkles and nonpareils. Maybe not muisjes. --Macrakis (talk) 01:33, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
 * User:Eduardofeld, muisjes are entirely different animals. Drmies (talk) 23:49, 24 June 2015 (UTC)
 * What's the basis? E. Feld talk 00:19, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Have you read the article and the previous comments? Muisjes have a core of aniseed, and are closely associated with birth scenes, served on rusk. Sprinkles and nonpareils are either of flavored sugar or chocolate and are used as toppings on very different things, without any ritual association. Type in "Beschuit met muisjes" in Google Books, and practice your Dutch with all the book titles about birth. They have have next to nothing to do with nonpareils etc. (and I wish the nominator had realized that). Drmies (talk) 04:41, 25 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Ok, I've got it. E. Feld  talk 00:12, 26 June 2015 (UTC)

I would suggest, then, that a better approach than merging (or at the very least, a prelude to it) would be to more clearly separate the subjects into the soft and hard varieties. Confetti candy apparently contains oil, so that would put it in with sugar strands/sprinkles. However, if you're really set on merging all these topics, the master article shouldn't be called "sprinkles" but something like candy topping. Finally, I'd keep muisjes separate; their cultural/culinary use and flavoring is quite distinct from generic "sprinkles".--Father Goose (talk) 05:06, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Erm. They're all similar but not identical. The biggest source of confusion is that the word "sprinkles" is used for several different confections that can all be sprinkled on desserts.  (Incidentally, you left out confetti candy from the discussion.)  I personally draw a distinction between the little hard balls (nonpareils) and the elongated soft ones (sugar strands/sprinkles).  The soft ones have oil ( vs ) making them usable on a wider variety of desserts where the crunchiness of nonpareils would be offputting.  Meanwhile, you wouldn't put soft sprinkles on hard chocolate to create nonpareil chocolates.
 * Afterthoughts: http://www.paulaur.com/toppings-and-food/ gives a good overview of the different types of toppings out there. And even if we do a big merge, I'd still keep "chocolate nonpareils" as its own article, being a distinct confection that merely uses nonpareils.--Father Goose (talk) 05:14, 23 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Strongly Disagree The fact that, perhaps incorrectly, the term 'non-pareil' has come to be somewhat synonymous with "chocolate non-pareil" makes merging a somewhat popular chocolate candy with soft, oblong colored things you put on doughnuts. As a separate article, it provides education as to the difference between the actual confection and the chocolate disk coated with said confection. If the merge happens, at least it is proposed in the correct direction; I, for one, would never have looked under "sprinkles" for an article about chocolate non-pareils.JackThornton (talk) 01:37, 24 March 2016 (UTC)
 * Comment. Until this merge decision is closed, some redirects are in a bit of a WP:XY as being able to point either to sprinkles (like ) or nonpareils (like ); I've listed these at Redirects_for_discussion/Log/2016_March_26. I don't want unduly to split this discussion, rather to include the redirects into it. Si Trew (talk) 06:25, 26 March 2016 (UTC)

"traditionally an opaque white but now available in many colors"
Can someone give a source for that?

I have never seen them in any form other than in many colors for 40 years unless i look into specialist baking shops. 87.154.180.28 (talk) 08:29, 28 July 2016 (UTC)


 * I could refer you to a box of SnoCaps, which have always had white nonpareils on them, hence the name. I've also seen them to buy in the Wilton baking supplies section at Michaels (US/Canadian arts & crafts chain). ScarletRibbons (talk) 22:28, 4 October 2017 (UTC)

Sprinkle Chips?
Exactly where in the US are they called sprinkle chips? I've never heard them referred to as anything but nonpareils. We do have the fun name of jimmies for regular sprinkles in my state, tho, which is more Middle Atlantic than Northeastern. ScarletRibbons (talk) 22:31, 4 October 2017 (UTC)