OK, here’s an easy one to settle an office bet:
How do you pronounce “General Tsao’s Chicken”?
I think this has been covered before, but my searches have come up empty. Please advise.
It’s usually as such:
“Number Eight, Please”
At most chinese places around here, it’s spelled “Tso” and I have always heard it pronounced as “So.” I have no proof this is right, but it is what I hear. I’ve also seen one restaurant list it as General Joe’s chicken. And since it was in the middle of Texas, it’s not hard to figure out why. 
I speak a bit of Cantonese, and only a tiny bit of Mandarin, but the “ts” consonant seems to be from the Wade-Giles system of transliteration, and would therefore be pronounced as it is written - like the “ts” in “cats”, but with reduced emphasis on the “t”. The “ao” would be pronounced like the “ow” sound in “cow”. So I’d write it as “(t)sow”. Cite.
Try reading this aloud, and make your reading as exaggerated as possible (pretend you are shouting).
“she”, “see”
Notice how the lips are rounded (like an “o”) when you read “she”, and how they “stretch” apart when you read “see”.
Then move on to: “cho” (as in chose)
The lips are also rounded in “cho”
How would you read “Tso”, if Tso is to “cho” as “see” is to “she”?
Or you could always try this…
Say loudly, “Its”, and note how the “ts” is pronounced. Now add an “o”. The only downside is that you may end up with “so”, which is definitely not what you are looking for.
I had just ordered some General Tso’s chicken to go (note: I always recook it at home, with extra spices).
Eve: So, tell me, who was General Tso?
Confused cashier: What?
Eve: Who was General Tso?
Confused cashier (looking at order): He Eve Golden.
Eve: No, no, I’m Eve—who was General Tso?
Confused cashier: He chicken in spicy sauce.
Eve: No . . . What I meant was . . .
Manager: Can I help you? Is some problem?
Eve: I was just curious . . . Who was the chicken named after? I mean, what if General Tso was the Chinese Hitler?
Manager: I don’t know. He some Chinese guy.
[Eve quietly takes her chicken and goes]
Yep, like “sow” only you make the “s” very sharp.
For a cite, talk the the guy 2 cubes down from me 
AFAIK, the general was a ranking minister in mid 19th Century Imperial China. Why the dish got named after him is open to speculation.
Cliffy’s father, every time we ordered chinese food:
“I love serving in General Tso’s army. Y’know why? 'Cuz General Tso’s chicken!”
–Cliffy
Covered before.
I saw a cartonn a few months ago that shows a centuries-ago Chinese warlord – jagged spear, body armor, and all – standing in the middle of a modern Chinese restaurant.
The caption read: “General Tso wants his Chicken back!”
My image of Eve at the restaurant is beyond priceless
On a related note, I once saw at a Chinese restaurant a dish called General Tsien’s Chicken. Any info on this guy?
You better watch how you pronounce Tsao or you’ll be saying “fuck.”
General Tsao wasn’t a Chinese Hitler…
He was the Chinese Colonel Sanders
(had to say it because nobody else would step up to the plate)
[newly married Chinese couple]
Hey, honey. How about some “69.”
“You want Chinese veggies in garlic sauce?”
rimshot.
“Number Eight, Please”
Tried that once, she had to look it up by name.
I wondered this a while back, along with what Kung Pao chicken was. AFAIK - Kung Pao is General Pao’s chicken. Good dishes get named after famous generals, or perhaps good cooks get promoted in the Chinese military. Sort of the oposite of the U.S. tradition in that we have Colonel Saunder’s.
Here is a link that sort of explains the General Tsao thing:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A59302-2002Apr16?language=printer
It’s Zuo? Goddamn, Wades-Giles can eat me.
Naw. More like this:
“…”
“…”
“Okay, I expect you to be pregnant tomorrow.”
LOROFLALRALF!