half-and-half dressing

5.8

A salad dressing made from equal parts mayonnaise and vinaigrette with garlic and cheese

noun
/ˈhæf ənd ˈhæf ˈdrɛsɪŋ/

: aderezo mitad y mitad

Many people enjoy a half-and-half dressing when they want a creamy yet tangy salad topping.

Examples

Can you pass the half-and-half dressing?
The chef recommended the half-and-half dressing for the mixed green salad.
She prepared a half-and-half dressing to accompany the grilled vegetables.
I love half-and-half dressing on my salads.
Many people enjoy a half-and-half dressing when they want a creamy yet tangy salad topping.
The chef recommended the half-and-half dressing for the mixed green salad.
She prepared a half-and-half dressing to accompany the grilled vegetables.

Surface Forms

half-and-half dressing singular

half-and-half dressings plural

Morphology

half-and-half + dressing

The compound 'half-and-half' clearly signals an equal (50/50) mixture and 'dressing' is a salad sauce, so a learner who knows those words can infer this is a salad sauce made by mixing two components equally. The precise ingredients (mayonnaise, vinaigrette, garlic, anchovies, Parmesan) are not predictable from the parts, but the core compositional meaning is transparent and cross-linguistically accessible.

Etymology

Half-and-half dressing paints a simple picture: two sauces mixed in 'equal parts', usually mayonnaise and vinaigrette, meeting in one bowl. So the name tells you it is a dressing that is both 'creamy' and 'tangy' at the same time.