DCHP-2

bonnyclabber bonny-clabber, Atlantic Canada DCHP-2 (November 2016)

• n. — Agriculture, obsolete

  thickened and soured milk that is usually sweetened.

  Bonnyclabber is a preservation from British or Irish English, where it is attested as far back as 1631 (see OED-3, s.v. "bonny-clabber"). The term has also been preserved in the US, where it has the highest prevalence (see Chart 1) and is found in DARE with a quotation from 1731 (see DARE, s.v. "bonnyclabber", which is marked "esp NEng and chiefly N Atl"). However, the term is used widely in Inner Circle Englishes (see Chart 1), and is not a Canadianism as defined in Dollinger (2015c).
  See also ITP Nelson, s.v. "bonnyclabber", which is marked "Maritimes, New England & Central Atlantic U.S.".

  See also: Bob's your uncle  

  • Inner Circle: see the explanation at Bob's your uncle.

  • 1883  "July 5.--Another source of wealth. I had so much bonny-clabber, or curdled milk, that I did not know what to do with it. Experiment developed a nice cottage-cheese, which Jack says is a little like the famous Neufchatel. He believed they would sell, and carried down a dozen to our grocer. Now I cannot supply the demand for 'Mount Hope' cheese." 
  • 1902  The sour taste is due to the presence of lactic acid, and this is itself mainly responsible for the curdling, just as the addition of vinegar, lemon juice, or acid fruits will coagulate milk. The coagulated milk (or "bonny clabber") separates into a white curd, consisting of casein or "cheese," and the watery-looking whey which contains the remaining constituents in solution. There are a number of good uses to which sour milk may be put in the kitchen cuisine, but for the ordinary purposes for which milk is bought it is spoiled [...]