When it comes to trail mix, the peanuts may just as well be packing peanuts — all we really want is the chocolate! But if you’re one of those people who dig for the M&Ms and leave the rest, you might be accused of high-grading. This term comes from the mining industry in the early 1900s, when gold miners might sneak good pieces of precious metals or gems into their lunch pails. This is part of a complete episode.
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In our household, we call this . My sweetie grumbles that I strip mine the mix-ins from her ice cream (removing the cookies from the Cookies & Cream ice cream; the cookie-dough chunks from the cookie-dough ice cream; the chocolate & brownie chunks from the Moose Tracks), leaving just the sweet-cream remnant. Interesting that they both seem to have mining origins.