banh mi

[Laurence Horn]

On Jun 10, 2014, at 12:49 PM, Jesse Sheidlower wrote:

> On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:47:00PM -0400, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>> On Tue, Jun 10, 2014 at 12:24 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>>
>>> On 17 July 2000 in the archives, Michael Horlick mentions that Vietnamese sandwiches
>>> are called "banh mi."
>>>
>>> Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banh_mi) says they are found especially in areas
>>> with substantial Vietnamese expatriate communities. I live in an area without such a
>>> community and the local supermarket chain is advertising "Banh Mi / Lemongrass Chicken
>>> or Pork" with Sriracha mayo and carrot daikon salad in the local paper.
>>>
>>> Wiktionary has an entry for the Vietnamese word "bánh mì"
>>> (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/b%C3%A1nh_m%C3%AC) but not the English borrowing.
>>
>> American Heritage and Oxford Dictionaries have already taken note.
>>
>> http://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=banh+mi
>> http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/banh-mi
>
> As has the OED, which cites a first example from 1985 in the SF
> Chronicle.
>
> http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/291068

Seems fitting; the best ones I've ever had were in the Little Saigon neighborhood of S.F. (Larkin, near O'Farrell) during the last LSA/ADS there (Jan. 2009).

LH

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