So, I’ve been coming across this phrase off and on(most recently in a Big Bang Theory episode), so I figured I’d ask…what gives? Chai is just the Hindi word for tea. Saying chai tea is like saying tea tea. It makes no sense.
It doesn’t taste like actual tea, but it is black tea blended with herbs and spices. I hate tea, I like chai. It tastes spicy- that’s the best way I can describe it.
Chai tea is highly spiced and often served sweetened and with milk or cream. Calling it chai tea is simply an English adaptation, much like saying with “au jus” or calling something a paella pan.
Your link is to Masala chai, and if that’s what chai tea is, then it really ought to be called Masala tea in English. Or spiced tea. Chai tea is silly.
No, no, no. When I read that I see “I hate tea, I like tea”. It hurts my brain.
Did you read the link? It describes the etymology. Masala chai - Wikipedia
It says exactly what I’m saying?
This is all very interesting. Many people have told me about Chai Tea and couldn’t tell me what it was. Since I’ve never liked anything but weak green tea I never tried it. I think I’ll give it a whirl now if people are saying it doesn’t taste like tea.
You sound like one of my online friends who hates it when people say “chai tea” and he hates “chai tea latte” even more so because real chai is supposed to be made with milk so it’s like saying “tea with milk tea with milk”.
Yes.
No. Well, yes, if you’re literally translating a hindi conversation to english. But not if you mean as originating in an english conversation. In english, chai refers to teas made with that particular blend of spices to demarcate them as different than the more familiar green and black teas. Why the british soldiers who introduced chai into english chose chai and not masala, I don’t know. But I can tell you that the cultural penetration of chai tea is so deep and strong, I doubt there’s any chance of people switching to masala tea or masala chai instead of chai tea.
It’s not even like it’s the only word that’s happened to. I assume when you order a latte at a coffee shop, they don’t just hand you a glass of milk.
Sorry. In the United States at least this battle is well and truly lost - Starbucks has seen to that. You’ll either have to learn to ignore it ( maybe with a slight wince to make yourself feel better ) or develop plenty of headaches in the future :).
Get some salsa sauce on the side. If you’re short on cash, stop at the ATM machine first. Don’t forget your PIN number.
PIN number I can understand in certain contexts, because PIN is a homonym for other words and without saying the “Number” after it, it might be confusing (and it’s still faster than saying out the entire acronym).
ATM machine needs to die in a fire.
And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Chai Tea, or cheese quesadilla, etc.
bldysabba, if you try and make sense of how sub continental culture is portrayed in the west, you will have an aneurysm. Just , accept it and try not to grimace too much. Especially when they insist that you are wrong and act all superior like IvoryTowerDenizen. Or drewtwo99
OTH, I nearly spat “Chai tea latte” at the Barista when I had it so there.
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Why the british soldiers who introduced chai into english chose chai and not masala
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Since, masala means powder or paste, it would make no sense at all.
FTR, “chai” means simply tea, whether its green tea, or Kashmiri tea or with teabag or made in a pot. The qualifier tells you what it is, not the word “chai”.
I always thought chai tasted kind of pumpkin-y. It’s a delicious beverage that is almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea.
Great reference!
Sure. But in English, it’s become synonymous with masala chai. Why? I don’t know. But it’s not an unusual linguistic phenomenon that words with generic meanings in one language take more specific meanings in others. See “raisin” or “corn” (that’s within the same language even). It’s called “semantic narrowing.”
What the fuck? I didn’t say anyone was “wrong” or that I was superior. Just giving my own opinion. I even give some middle ground for certain “wrong” things to say, like understanding when PIN number might be superior to saying just PIN.
My English SO often says “chai” when all she’s having is regular old black tea with milk and sugar/stevia/honey (sweetener varies). She’s from the Norfolk area - don’t know if that matters.
In parts of the south of England, particularly London, we sometimes call tea “cha”. Does she say “chai” (rhymes with fly) or “cha” (with a long a as in “ah”)?