# Asian Takeout Mustard: what is in? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 11, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026 "2019-09-11T05:07:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/41 "2019-09-19T01:23:44Z")
Oh, boy. In about five minutes the Chicagoans are going to start barreling in, and bury you. I will stand by to administer oxygen. (I stand by Plochman’s yellow. It is a brave standout amidst the array of crappy yellow American mustards) (Also…vinegar and turmeric? What’s not to like?) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/42 "2019-09-19T01:36:05Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > (Also…vinegar and turmeric? What’s not to like?) There’s nothing wrong wrong with vinegar and turmeric flavor. But it should be called vinegar and turmeric, not mustard. The word “mustard” should be used for things that taste of mustard. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/43 "2019-09-19T01:49:04Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Indeed now that I click on your Wikipedia link, I see that the third sentence says exactly what I explain above. > > So, no, the phrase doesn’t contradict my explanation at all. But it’s still ambiguous if the locals are going to call spicy-hot food temperature-hot because of their local medical ideas. It’s just as ambiguous as the way English works, it just gets there via a different route. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/44 "2019-09-19T02:05:03Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > There’s nothing wrong wrong with vinegar and turmeric flavor. But it should be called vinegar and turmeric, not mustard. The word “mustard” should be used for things that taste of mustard. Try a squirt of Plochman’s on a Vienna Beef frank on a poppyseed roll, with slivered dill pickles and tomatoes, a sprinkle of celery salt, and a few sport peppers (I don’t care for the Day-Glo relish, but add it if you like). Then get back to us. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/45 "2019-09-19T02:07:49Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > But it’s still ambiguous if the locals are going to call spicy-hot food temperature-hot because of their local medical ideas. It’s just as ambiguous as the way English works, it just gets there via a different route. They’re not calling it spicy-hot. They are calling it temperature-hot. A single food can be both. If you call something “hot and sour” are you worried that people are going to confuse the meanings of the words hot and sour? There’s no ambiguity. And besides that the phrase “garam masala” doesn’t change the meaning of the word “garam” to the “locals,” as you put it. Everyone knows exactly what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/46 "2019-09-19T02:14:38Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > And besides that the phrase “garam masala” doesn’t change the meaning of the word “garam” to the “locals,” as you put it. Everyone knows exactly what it means. Ditto with “hot chilis” in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/47 "2019-09-19T02:20:22Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Ditto with “hot chilis” in fact. I was about to ask you to explain what exactly you’re trying to say, but I changed my mind. It’s not worth my time and effort to continue this exchange in which you argue from ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/48 "2019-09-19T14:56:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > I was about to ask you to explain what exactly you’re trying to say, but I changed my mind. It’s not worth my time and effort to continue this exchange in which you argue from ignorance. I’ve given you my point: You said that there were words which distinguished temperature-hot from spicy-hot in a given language. I gave you an example where the temperature-hot word was used to mean spicy-hot. You gave me an excuse for why that word was used that way. I observed that that re-ambiguates the whole thing. You took offense. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/49 "2019-09-19T15:04:31Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Try a squirt of Plochman’s on a Vienna Beef frank on a poppyseed roll, with slivered dill pickles and tomatoes, a sprinkle of celery salt, and a few sport peppers (I don’t care for the Day-Glo relish, but add it if you like). Then get back to us. And yet, your location doesn’t \*say \*Chicago! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/50 "2019-09-19T15:26:17Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Try a squirt of Plochman’s on a Vienna Beef frank on a poppyseed roll, with slivered dill pickles and tomatoes, a sprinkle of celery salt, and a few sport peppers (I don’t care for the Day-Glo relish, but add it if you like). There had better be some onion or we got problems. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/51 "2019-09-19T15:45:11Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > French’s yellow mustard, the top-selling brand, however, is like watery dogshit. How do you know what dogshit tastes like? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2019, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/52 "2019-09-19T16:08:12Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > There had better be some onion or we got problems. Damn. I KNEW I was leaving something out. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2019, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026/53 "2019-10-01T01:21:39Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > I’ve given you my point: > > You said that there were words which distinguished temperature-hot from spicy-hot in a given language. > > I gave you an example where the temperature-hot word was used to mean spicy-hot. > > You gave me an excuse for why that word was used that way. > > I observed that that re-ambiguates the whole thing. > > You took offense. I’ll try one more time: the word “garam” in “garam masala” means “temperature hot.” It does not mean “spicy hot.” Period. There is no ambiguity to people who understand the language. In fact it’s an illustration of the opposite. Unless you understand the language, I don’t know what you think you’re doing by constructing an ambiguity in a language you don’t understand. It’s ludicrous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-takeout-mustard-what-is-in/840026.md?page=2)