With our apologies to those who are lactose intolerant, it’s time to talk about cream. The good news is when it comes to the idiom “cream of the crop,” the cream isn’t actually dairy. It relates to a figurative meaning of the word “cream” — an alternate definition that dates to the late 16th century.
In addition to its widely known dairy-related meanings, “cream” is defined as the choicest or best part of something. This usage can be traced back to 1581, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
That brings us to the idiom “cream of the crop,” which became popular around the mid-19th century. The Americanism was likely inspired by the French idiom crème de la crème — meaning “the very best.” This Frenchism was spotted in English in the 1840s, and the idiom “cream of the crop” appeared soon after. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, an early printed example appears in an 1851 article from the Boston Daily Atlas: “Their customers require goods made of the best cotton, the cream of the crop.”
Sometimes the phrase is used in a more literal sense. People can describe the most pristine produce from a single harvest (e.g., apples, corn, or any product without any obvious blemishes) as the “cream of the crop.” However, it’s mostly used in a figurative context. Today, it’s typically used to describe the very best in any context, from the finest smartphone on the market to the most talented NBA players, and so on.
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