Dim sum =? savory snack

Joel S. Berson Berson at ATT.NET
Wed Aug 17 21:24:46 UTC 2011


At 8/17/2011 03:35 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>On Aug 17, 2011, at 3:00 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>
> > For dim sum, the OED says "A savoury
> Cantonese-style snack; a meal consisting of these."
> >
> > For savoury, the OED has one relevant definition:
> >
> > adjective "3. Used, in contradistinction to
> sweet, as the epithet of articles of food
> having a stimulating taste or flavor."
> >
> > I have a bit of trouble imagining dim sum as
> a "snack," but I suppose you can look at it that way.
>
>But if dim sum can be "a meal consisting of
>savoury Cantonese-style snacks", I think that
>can work—each dish (or double-dish for the fancy
>ones) is a snack, and the sum is the meal.

Or I think often three (items) to a dish.  (Isn't three a lucky number?)

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org



More information about the Ads-l mailing list