Dim sum =? savory snack

[Laurence Horn]

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.

LH

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