ice cream

[little me]

Can someone please tell me why an ice cream with a flake in it is called a 99? Thank you.

[heathfield]

One explanation here

[Quizmonster]

A few months ago, there was a TV series called Balderdash & Piffle, presented by Victoria Coren. The point ot the programme was to get members of the public to produce evidence for the scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary (TOED) to show them that certain words had been around earlier than the dictionary claimed. One of the words investigated was '99' for the chocolate ice-cream.
All sorts of claims and counter-claims were made, including one that it was a reference to an elite royal guard in Italy consisting of exactly 99 men! In other words, it was something extra special.
Certainly, the earliest hard evidence for it is in a Cadbury's price-list, theough even that is unclear as to whether it referred only to the chocolate or to an ice-cream with the chocolate in it.
The online edition of TOED still says that the origin is unknown.

[Quizmonster]

My apologies for my earlier answer, H. I read only the opening lines of your link and assumed - foolishly and wrongly - that it was all to be about the Scottish claimant. That's why I then went on to say virtually all the same things as were contained in your link as a whole in any case. What a plonker, as I discovered on coming back to the querstion this afternoon! Again, my apologies to you and to Little Me, the questioner.

[heathfield]

No trubs, QM. Iv'e been guilty of the same thing myself!