Can popsicles be made out of anything? Sure we could freeze fruit juices of all kinds and form them into popsicles, but what about other beverages? Milk? Tea? Beer? Can these popular drinks be consumed another way?

Fundamentally, popsicles are liquids formed into solids by freezing. But can they be solids in the first place? Consider gallium which has a melting point of just above room temperature: in the Sahara gallium would be a liquid and could be frozen into a gallium popsicle, in a similar process as pouring fruit juice into a mold. However, in the Arctic, where gallium might be solid. a gallium popsicle would be absurd — equivalent to making a popsicle by just inserting a stick in a banana. What is a popsicle?

Here, I tried to do a “Webster’s dictionary defines popsicle as …” bit but it turns out popsicle is a brand name and I should have been typing Popsicle® Ice Pops this entire time. Can we really define something that isn’t really a word?

Thanks a very fun page named “SICLE™ Trademark Family” on the Popsicle website, our original question has been answered.

Popsicle®, Creamsicle®, Fudgsicle® and Yosicle® are registered trademarks of the Unilever Group of Companies and can only be used to identify the frozen confection products of Unilever. They may not be used to refer to frozen confection products of other companies or frozen confection products generally. Misuse of these trademarks may violate Unilever’s very valuable rights.

SICLE™ Trademark Family

The Popsicle® has a very narrow definition.