Learn English – Froth and foam, which one is preferred

differencemeaningword-usage

Tonight, while having a cup of hot-chocolate, me and my friends had a little discussion about the foam/bubbles/froth formed on the top of the drink.

While I said that it should be referred to as froth, they were referring it to as foam. Now, all my childhood, I was told that foam is used with reference to their origin because of soapy liquids; I can't accept that it should be foam.

My dictionary shows the same meaning for both the words and hence, my question:

Which of the two words, froth and foam is preferable when referring to bubble formation in drinks?

Best Answer

Froth is more common, although both are acceptable.

Note that one exception is that when talking about beer one would normally use the word head, for example:

The head of my pint of beer was white.

That pint I had the other day was awful. It was 50% head!

Note that foam is not used exclusively when talking about soapy liquids:

A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping pockets of gas in a liquid or solid. A bath sponge and the head on a glass of beer are examples of foams. In most foams, the volume of gas is large, with thin films of liquid or solid separating the regions of gas.

Related Topic