from Hacker News

Why translating Chinese food names into English is 'an impossible task'

by asplake on 4/29/25, 5:40 AM with 1 comments

  • by schrectacular on 4/29/25, 8:15 AM

    Wanton is not "yun tun" in Mandarin, it's "hun tun" (馄饨) but it does have a lot of local variance; most people I know in the north tend to say "dun" but the two sounds are pretty similar if said fast. Neat article though and I agree that food terms are impossible to translate, especially as single terms. They need context.

    Slightly surprised they didn't mention "spit/saliva/drool chicken" (口水鸡) but I guess there is only so much room and way to many examples!