# I give up! Who the hell is General Tso? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 10, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140 "2003-08-10T03:53:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/1 "2003-08-10T03:53:00Z")
His chicken is fabulous, but who is he? Why is this dish named for him? ---
**Author:** ![Journeyman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/779978/32.png) [@Journeyman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Journeyman)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/2 "2003-08-10T03:56:18Z")
The chinese equivalent of Colonel Sanders, of course. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/3 "2003-08-10T04:08:00Z")
LMFAO!!! ---
**Author:** ![im2evil4u](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b5ac83/32.png) [@im2evil4u](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/im2evil4u)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/4 "2003-08-10T04:28:59Z")
Good question. I’ve always wondered. Your post promted me to google. [This](http://www.echonyc.com/~erich/tso.htm) is what I found. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/5 "2003-08-10T04:34:41Z")
One of my local Chinese restaurants doesn’t know, either. They usually have it labelled “Generic Chicken” on the buffet. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/6 "2003-08-10T04:36:04Z")
**Eve** asked this same [question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=127029) at a restaurant once. Further reading reveals that the [archives](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgentso.html) are your friend. ---
**Author:** ![if6was9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@if6was9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/if6was9)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/7 "2003-08-10T04:42:54Z")
I should have googled first… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Early\_Out](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Early\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Early_Out)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/8 "2003-08-10T15:37:30Z")
The more important question, still to be answered, is why he crossed the road. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/9 "2003-08-10T16:35:20Z")
That’s easy. Generao Tso and his chicken crossed the road to get to the won ton soup. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/10 "2003-08-10T19:47:36Z")
Ah General Tso. His ruthlessness was only equalled by his recipe for chicken. ---
**Author:** ![ParentalAdvisory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@ParentalAdvisory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParentalAdvisory)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2003, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-give-up-who-the-hell-is-general-tso/194140/11 "2003-08-10T23:19:20Z")
And here I thought you were asking a mainframe question. I’m such a dork.