# Burn the spring chicken. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967 "2008-01-18T02:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/1 "2008-01-18T02:34:22Z")
This had me in tears. 😃 [http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order/](http://www.rahoi.com/2006/03/may-i-take-your-order/) Very funny stuff. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/2 "2008-01-18T02:40:46Z")
Ginger bumping milk? Oh, Professor… ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/3 "2008-01-18T03:00:01Z")
They seem to have several cowboy meat dishes. ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/4 "2008-01-18T03:15:06Z")
I think I’ve hurt myself in some way, trying to keep from laughing loud enough to wake the youngster. My favorite: “Benumbed hot vegetables fries f\*ck silk” ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/5 "2008-01-18T03:25:04Z")
I think I eat at too many Chinese places as most of those kinda make sense to me. Cowboy= sirloin 9beef is considered a “strong” flavor in chinese cooking and needs to be mated with 5 spice or other flavors to make it palatable. Strange flavor is also called fish flavor and it’s jsut ginger and garlic with a little chili but a pretty sweet sauce. One of my favorite places does fish fragrant eggplant and it’s the only eggplant I really like. benumbed means it has Szechuan peppercorns in it. These are not spicy hot but the have a unique numbing flavor that goes with spicy very well, “Ma La” is the standard description of this, ask for Ma La in a place with Chinese speakers and they should know what you want. Hometown pot is a hot pot, a group dish where you dip meats and fish and veggies in a roiling broth of peppers, stock and other goodies. Tasty but can be insanely spicy so beware. ---
**Author:** ![Maui\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@Maui\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maui_Lion)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/6 "2008-01-18T04:41:24Z")
Ohh my head hurts. I should not read such things while at work and we’re helping a customer. I had to hold it all in, and now I’ve hurt my head. His commentaries are what really did it for me. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/7 "2008-01-18T06:40:19Z")
I just laughed so hard I nearly peed myself. And then promptly sent the link to my husband and my mother. That menu is a thing of beauty indeed! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/8 "2008-01-18T13:31:49Z")
Not to be rude, but that seems suspicious to me. Has anyone read the Chinese characters on the menu? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/9 "2008-01-18T14:01:52Z")
Reminds me of the menu at Gran China in Catania, Sicily. They will graciously give you an “English” menu if you request one. The “English” was Chinese translated to Italian translated to English! Mrs. Chief and I still roll remembering “Shrimp guy of orange heads” believing that instead of a food dish, this name should have been reserved for a feature film starring Danny DeVito and Carrottop. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/10 "2008-01-18T14:33:15Z")
[Fuck the pot burn](http://foodtube.livejournal.com/3241.html). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/11 "2008-01-18T16:33:10Z")
From my uncle: ‘I believe I had this menu when I was in Yokohama.’ ---
**Author:** ![Omegaman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/e480ec/32.png) [@Omegaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omegaman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/12 "2008-01-18T16:45:40Z")
I wonder if those cowboys are free range. ---
**Author:** ![Oy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bc8723/32.png) [@Oy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oy)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/13 "2008-01-18T17:13:40Z")
[QUOTE=NinetyWt] Not to be rude, but that seems suspicious to me. Has anyone read the Chinese characters on the menu? [/QUOTE] Read the comments section. Post # 12 (at the time of this posting, anyway) gives a word-for-word translation of Benumbed hot vegetables fries fuck silk. It’s simply translating word for word in isolation, often taking the incorrect alternative meaning, combined with the occasional spelling error or typo. I remember reading about a mangled French (I think) incident, where a man was trying to order something at a restaurant, and having the waiter, who spoke good English, ask him in utter bewilderment and said, “But sir, why do you want me to wallop your horse with a parachute?” I must have seen that well over thirty years ago, and it still cracks me up. Another time, when I was in Spain on business, I had to go to a store. Knowing this in advance, I took out my handy-dandy Spanish/English dictionary, and attempted to write a note explaining that I spoke pretty much no Spanish, but needed help finding thus-and-so. I ended with what was meant to be “Please speak slowly, and we will work it out.” I then (thank heavens) gave it to the co-worker who was my English-speaking keeper, and she started cracking up. It turns out that the idiom I had used for “work it out” generally translated to something along the lines of “engage in sexual activity,” just like, say, ‘get it on’ does in English. God, I love mangled language translations! ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/14 "2008-01-18T17:45:03Z")
This [blog entry](http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003568.html) supports the notion that the likely reason for the occurences of “fuck” in menus like this > [@](#): > > is the reliance in China on dictionaries claiming to provide “real idiomatic American English.” The more slipshod of these dictionaries may give fuck — a true-blue American idiom — as the only translation-equivalent for GAN. ---
**Author:** ![beanpod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9adbd/32.png) [@beanpod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beanpod)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/15 "2008-01-18T18:17:54Z")
I’ve been considering changing my username. I think **Four Treaure Frog** is going on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Hockey\_Monkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a183cd/32.png) [@Hockey\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hockey_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/16 "2008-01-18T20:33:52Z")
[QUOTE=beanpod] I’ve been considering changing my username. I think **Four Treaure Frog** is going on the list. [/QUOTE] Awesome. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/17 "2008-01-18T21:01:05Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] [Fuck the pot burn](http://foodtube.livejournal.com/3241.html). [/QUOTE] That’s also funny. “Snowflake Deer Nose”. “Old Vinegar Seafood Head”. “Three Wood Grain Fish Bone Body”. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/18 "2008-01-19T03:52:00Z")
When I tried to look at this at work, the filter told me I was a naughty girl for wanting to look at _porn_ at work. ??? Yet they let me read the Pit. Our filter makes no sense. Rather like the menu, but the menu is way way funnier! ---
**Author:** ![NinetyWt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/cc9497/32.png) [@NinetyWt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinetyWt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2008, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/burn-the-spring-chicken/433967/19 "2008-01-19T05:16:12Z")
[QUOTE=Oy!] Read the comments section. Post # 12 (at the time of this posting, anyway) gives a word-for-word translation of Benumbed hot vegetables fries fuck silk. It’s simply translating word for word in isolation, often taking the incorrect alternative meaning, combined with the occasional spelling error or typo. [/QUOTE] Ah, I see. Carry on.