Jell-O is a soft, sweet, wobbly food made from fruit juice and gelatin. You mix a powder with hot water, pour it into a bowl or mould, and let it set in the cold. It comes in bright colours and fruit flavours. Jell-O is an American brand name that many Americans use for the food itself, the way people say “Kleenex” for a tissue. In British English the same wobbly dessert is called jelly — and that is a trap, because in American English jelly usually means the smooth fruit spread you put on bread (what British people call jam). Jell-O was trademarked by Pearle Bixby Wait and named by his wife, May Wait. The name clips gelatin and jelly, and then adds O, a fashionable ending for US product names at the time. In writing, the brand keeps the capital J and the hyphen: Jell-O.