“Cha” is Punjabi. As lots of British forces were stationed in the Punjab and the Frontier and a lot of immigration to the UK is from there, not surprised.
jimbluff314, that’s pretty much what “chai” is.
And welcome back jjimm
This was the part that I thought addressed your point:
Yes, it’s a tautology, but there are other foreign words, when adapted to English, that get used that way. Paella pan, is one example.
Color me very confused. I’m not sure how agreeing with the OP, but saying it just isn’t all that unusual for foreign words to be treated that way, is acting superior.
Only on SDMB will we go 12 rounds about something as disgusting as clove, anise and cinnamon flavored tea, with milk.
Everybody knows the only propper tea is english breakfast or earl grey. Taken black. Sugar optional. Lemon if you’re dainty.
I loooove Chai Latte. Black tea: check. Lovely cookie spices like cinnamon, cumin and cardamon: check. Lots of milk: check. And added layer of milk foam (milk foam is the only reason I even drink cappuchino’s) CHECK!
The spices make it taste so sweet you don’t even need to add sugar (Starbucks of course does add loads of sugar as a default, and keep quiiet about it). So, self made Chai latte is a sweet, warming drink with few calories.
Chai latte can be bought as a premade balck tea mix. But it is also available as just the spice mix, so you can add it to your own favourite black tea in the concentration you like.
Or the original Cantonese. Or Bengali or Gujarati or Odiya…etc
There are so many of these misuses of non English language such as with au jus or my favorite- the gangster in Mickey Blue Eyes wanting to open a restaurant called “The La Trattoria”
There is no one “chai” recipe. It is a mixture of tea and spices (Bigelow even has a chocolate chai) that is usually drunk with milk and sugar. The spices vary depending on who makes it.
As for the language issues:
- There is nothing wrong with redundancy in language. In fact, it’s an essential element to prevent miscommunication.
- The original definition or origin of a word is at most an amusing curiosity. It has no relevance to current usage.
- The users of the language determine what’s correct. “Chai tea” is how people differentiate it from other types of tea. Getting huffy over the etymology shows lack of understanding about language.
And my favorite example, “the La Brea Tar Pits,” or “the the tar pit tar pits.” What a weird thread. And it happens in all sorts of languages. A similar example to the OP is the Hungarian word “baconszallona,” which is the English word “bacon” followed by the Hungarian word “szalonna,” which means “bacon.” So, like “chai tea,” you have the same sort of redundancy. But it refers to basically “streaky bacon.”
If people can’t call it “chai”, what should they call it?
;D
Another food related example in English might be “kielbasa (sausage).” I grew up speaking Polish, and the word simply means “sausage” in Polish. But in US English at least, it has come to specifically refer to a type of smoked Polish sausage. Despite being a generic term like “chai” in its native language, and despite Polish and English being my native tongues, it’s never bothered me (nor do I think I ever really noticed) that the generic refers to something more specific across this pair of languages. I would not bat an eye if someone said “kielbasa sausage.” I know what it means and it matters not one whit what it literally means in the native language. That’s just how languages work.
I suppose “masala tea” would be the answer. Or perhaps “Indian spiced tea” (although, who knows, maybe “Indian” is too specific/not specific enough.) I’ll just stick to “chai” when speaking English where that term is widely used.
But if “chai” means “tea”, can I say “masala chai” or “chai masala”?
I don’t see why not. (The first, that is. The second would refer to the spices that go into the tea. ETA: I think. I don’t know how flexible word order is. But that’s how I’ve always encountered the terms. A native speaker can clarify.)
Tea?
Masala Chai: Please don’t even go there
Chai Masala: Tea Powder; sounds ridiculous.
I mean that specific type of spiced Indian tea referred to as “chai” in the West, and not, say, Lipton Yellow Label.
Heh. Fair enough.
Actually, I think the primary meaning of masala is spice, and the word is often used like that (masala movies for instance), so he’s ok there.
I somehow doubt this is an ‘English’ phenomenon started by British soldiers. I think it’s American, spread by some marketing type with more fluff between their ears than brains.
I think a big part of the reason I’m not comfortable with it being an ‘English’ word with a meaning that is at odds with the Hindi is because I think of English as ‘my’ language, just as I do Hindi. And it feels like I ought to have a say in what meaning a word from Hindi has in English. And given how many English speakers India has, I think it’s a pretty legitimate stance. Maybe if more knowledgeable Americans like all you fine folk would start spreading the word, it may stem the tide? 
Masala tea. Spiced tea. From what I’m reading here - Cardamom tea, clove tea, Pumpkin(?) tea. Those would all be accurate, masala tea would even fulfill the exotic quotient. Masala chai, which is the actual name, is an option, although I suppose any Masala chai you get in India would be vastly different.
You want me to start talking about the hummus they sell in the United States? Trust me, I know all about Western culinary appropriation.
I don’t know why you say this, but in India, both Masala Chai and Chai Masala are phrases that are in use (the latter much less so) although they mean different things.
Masala chai means spiced tea, and is pretty common. Most chaiwalas will throw in a pinch of something if you ask them for a Masala Chai. The fancier places(like Cha Bar) have a separate Masala chai on the menu which is their approximation of the (IMO superior) roadside chaiwala.
Chai masala is more uncommon, but is used by some people to refer to, as you put it, chai powder, i.e the grainy Lipton stuff that you dunk into boiling water and later get chai from.
On an unrelated matter, I’ve been meaning to ask you something, but due to limitations in how I access the board, I can’t send you a PM. Would you mind sending me one so I can reply to it? Thanks.
Look, I don’t mind if they make something that tastes somewhat different but is called the same. I don’t even mind when they start saying ‘curry’ is Indian food, inspite of Indian food not having any dish called ‘curry’.
It’s just - chai is tea. You could have adrak chai(ginger tea), elaichi chai(cardamom tea), laung chai(clove tea), Masala chai(some sort of combination of previous) suleimani chai(lemon black tea), any number of different types of chai. Chai tea, on the other hand, you can’t. It’s just… you can’t.