Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Che differenza c'e' fra "to thaw"...

... e "to defrost"?
Posso usarle tutte e due per "scongelare" i surgelati?
Thx,
Pleg

 Posso usarle tutte e due per "scongelare" i surgelati?
Hanno significati diversi. Si dice "defrost the frozen food", non si 
dice "thaw the frozen food" (anche se non è uno sbaglio orribile). 
Insomma, "defrost" vuol dire "scongelare" e "thaw" vuol dire "sgelare".

 Posso usarle tutte e due per "scongelare" i surgelati?
Io preferisco il microonde...

 "defrost" vuol dire "scongelare" e "thaw" vuol dire "sgelare".
Chiedevo perche' leggendo qui:
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Big_Thaw/index.asp
mi sembrava venissero usati come sinonimi.
Pleg

 mi sembrava venissero usati come sinonimi.
Thaw can be used, in a general sense, in the context of defrosting food, 
but it is not the most common word to use, and it is certainly not an 
exact synonym.
If you want to make sure that people never make the mistake of thinking 
that you're a native English speaker, you can look outside on a winter 
day and say "it looks like the snow is defrosting" or you can scratch 
out the "defrost" label on the button of your American microwave and 
write "thaw" in its place with a permanent Sharpie.

 exact synonym.
If it's what I'm doing to the food, then "defrost" seems preferable.
"thaw" doesn't
seem likely, but it's not impossible.
If it's a context like "allow food to X" then I'd say defrost still
wins but "thaw"
seems a bit less unlikely than in the previous case.

 
I think it's just a writer's license: not wanting to use "defrost" twice in 
the title and in the first paragraph, and so he devised the phrase "The Big 
Thaw," which then became the theme of the piece. I would have used 
"defrosting" in the first line of the second paragraph.
There is at least one grammatical 'error' in the piece (I stopped reading 
after a couple of paragraphs.) Can you find it?
<quote>
The Big Thaw - Safe Defrosting Methods
for Consumers
Uh, oh! You're home and forgot to defrost something for dinner. You grab a 
package of meat or chicken and use hot water to thaw it fast. But is this 
safe? What if you remembered to take food out of the freezer, but forgot and 
left the package on the counter all day while you were at work?
Neither of these situations are safe, and these methods of thawing lead to 
foodborne illness. Food must be kept at a safe temperature during "the big 
thaw." Foods are safe indefinitely while frozen. However, as soon as food 
begins to defrost and become warmer than 40 °F, any bacteria that may have 
been present before freezing can begin to multiply.
<unquote>
-- 
Joe/Joey in New York

 write "thaw" in its place with a permanent Sharpie.
Actually, that was a bad example. Although you can say, and very well 
may say, that "the snow is thawing", the most likely phrase would be 
"the snow is melting". Other examples that 'thaw' but don't 'defrost' 
would be "the ground can thaw, a cold shoulder can thaw, winter can 
change to a spring thaw, a frozen pipe can thaw", and if you have the 
right speech impediment you may tweet that you "thawt you thaw a puddy 
tat". 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tweety
In thinking about these words, it's struck me that "thaw" is often used 
for larger things, including larger types of food (to thaw a turkey), 
while defrost is used for smaller sizes and quantities of food (to 
defrost a chicken), with the notable large stuff exception of "to 
defrost a refrigerator". I can only speak for American usage. I have no 
specific information on how the British throw around these terms.

 Neither of these situations are safe, and these methods of thawing lead
"Neither is" e "neither are" sono entrambi in uso, anche se ci sono 
pseudo-grammatici che sono convinti che il secondo sia "errato", senza 
spiegare perché.

Ragnarok, 01:28, domenica 14 marzo 2010:

So, you "microwave" your frost food?
-- 
"War is a way of shattering to pieces, or pouring into the
stratosphere, or sinking in the depths of the sea, materials
which might otherwise be used to make the masses too
comfortable, and hence, in the long run, too intelligent."
                -- George Orwell

 begins to defrost and become warmer than 40 °F, any bacteria that may have
                        ^^^^^^
"becomes" ?
Pleg

Grazie a tutti!
Pleg

 So, you "microwave" your frost food?
Il tuo microonde non ha la funzione per scongelare :-0?

 Pleg

 spiegare perchÃ©.
I'm one of those people. To me, "neither" (and "either") will always refer to 
a singular subject or object.
Neither, which means "not either," is always followed in my mind by "one." 
Therefore, "either" is always followed, implicitly, by "one."
"Neither (one) of these situations is safe."
"Either (one) of these situations is safe."


 
Actually, "become" is correct. The "to" of the infinitive is missing, but 
it's still an infinitive.
"as soon as food begins to defrost and (to) become warmer than 40..."


 
NB: Frozen food, not frost food.


 Il tuo microonde non ha la funzione per scongelare :-0?
A parte che non ho il ľonde, io intendevo che "to microwave"
diventa verbo sinonimo di scongelare, come per dire "microonda
quel pesce congelato".
-- 
Whenever the literary German dives into a sentence, that is the
last you are going to see of him until he emerges on the other
side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth.
    -- Mark Twain

 quel pesce congelato".
Il verbo microwave significa utilizzare il forno a microonde, se sia per 
cucinare o scongelare (sono presenti entrambe le funzioni in questi forni), 
lo si capisce dal contesto. Il verbo e' transitivo.
ciao, Janis 

 verbo e' transitivo.
Lo immaginavo, l'inglese può "verbizzare" quasi ogni sostantivo.
-- 
"Britain is not an island...well, yes it is, but..."
                -- Unidentified MP, on BBC Radio 4