# Which languages have an unabiguous word for "hot because of chile" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 5, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252 "2004-11-05T20:28:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/21 "2004-11-06T03:08:40Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > People, you mean ‘chili’, not "chile’, right? ‘Chile’ is that long narrow country in South America. 🙂 Nope. Either spelling is correct for the pepper. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/22 "2004-11-06T03:15:47Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > Do other languages have this ambiguity or do they have a distinct word which means “hot from chiles”? Epicé (hot from chile) vs chaud (hot from temperature) in french. Since “epicé” means “spicy”, I assume that theorically you could call that way a dish which contain spices that aren’t hot, but it’s never used in this way. “Un plat épicé” always refers to a hot dish. “Piquant” is also used, but usually refers to sauces, not dishes. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/23 "2004-11-06T03:19:41Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > In English people will often say their food is hot or spicy, but it can be unclear what they mean. > > _My food is hot._ - Does that mean the food is hot from chile or hot from temperature? > > _My food is spicy._ - Does that mean the food is spicy from chile or has a lot of different spices in it? > > Do other languages have this ambiguity or do they have a distinct word which means “hot from chiles”? In Hungarian, spicy hot is \*csípős \*. Another word sometimes used is _erős_, meaning “strong,” literally. Temperature hot is _meleg_ (also a slang word meaning “gay.”) _Pikáns_ can also mean spicy, but is closer to “pungent” or highly seasoned. If a dish contains a lot of spices, but is not necessarily hot (like mild Indian curries), you can use the word _fűszeres_, which is literally “spicy,” as in, full of spices. In Polish, you have _ostre_ to mean “spicy hot.” It literally means “sharp.” For temperature hot, you use the word _gorace_. (There’s a little tail on the ‘a’ that I don’t know how to make.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/24 "2004-11-06T03:23:35Z")
Sorry. _Forró_ is temperature hot. _Meleg_ is warm. But when it’s hot outside, you use the term _meleg_ rather than _forró_, hence my brain fart. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/25 "2004-11-06T03:26:40Z")
Savoury, zesty, seasoned… these words can imply some mixture of spices. Saying “highly seasoned, very zesty” gets the idea across. Hot from temperature… “piping hot”, scalding, “high temperature”, “fresh from the oven”… no great way to say it. Words like boiling, incandescant, hot, burning have been bastardized by the spicy hot crowd. Peppery still implies hot from chile. Pungent is a good word, but not used around here much. Piquant works (and is already an English word). ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/26 "2004-11-06T03:52:30Z")
> [@filmore](#): > > I’ve heard things like apple cider and spaghetti sauce referred to as spicy, although neither are spicy-hot. > > My original question came about because someone told my daughter the apple cider was spicy, and then she didn’t want to try it. I was having trouble describing to her how the apple cider wasn’t spicy from chiles–rather it’s from the orange and nutmeg. I’d say that things that are “spicy” in the way that cider or spaghetti sauce are are considered “savory” rather than “spicy.” ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/27 "2004-11-06T04:25:40Z")
> [@quothz](#): > > Yes. Um, perhaps you might look that one up. Word for the day and all like that - I don’t think it means what I think you think it means, to borrow a line. “Scald: to burn as if with hot liquid or steam.” From the Latin “calidus” meaning warm, which is also the root of the Spanish “caliente”. Perfectly good word for hot chicken stew. ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/28 "2004-11-06T05:06:10Z")
> [@Freejooky](#): > > I’d say that things that are “spicy” in the way that cider or spaghetti sauce are are considered “savory” rather than “spicy.” “Savory” works for spaghetti sauces (garlic, onion, basil, mushrooms, and whatnot are savory), but not so much with cinnamon-spiced stuff. I would never consider cider to be savory. Savory is a “sort of opposite” to sweet - that is, not sweet, but appealing and aromatic. Cinnamon, while not sweet, accents sweetness in a charming way; I can’t imagine it being described as “savory”. (Yes, it’s bitter and aromatic, which satisfies the dictionary. It’s still not savory, damn it!) ---
**Author:** ![quothz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/da6949/32.png) [@quothz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quothz)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/29 "2004-11-06T05:40:06Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > “Scald: to burn as if with hot liquid or steam.” From the Latin “calidus” meaning warm, which is also the root of the Spanish “caliente”. Perfectly good word for hot chicken stew. I don’t give a damn about Latin roots. The OP asked for a word meaning “hot from peppers”, and “scalding” isn’t it. Further, “scalding” is only descriptive of temperature over a certain range - hot enough to cook flesh - near boiling. If you serve, say, soups at these temperatures, I bet you’re not a very popular host. And I’ll bet’cha your cream soups break something awful. While black tea should be served scalding (after being poured boiling, and allowed to steep), I would not use it as a general term for anything served at a hot temperature. Neither would anyone else who, like, cooks things that don’t have instructions printed on the back of the box. “Piping hot” works okay for anything served too hot to snarf quickly, but “scalding” does not. For that matter, “hot” works just fine for foods served at high temperature - like I said, that wasn’t the question at hand. -Further-, “scalding”, our word of the day, remember, has a negative connotation in the English language, in a way that even “boiling” does not. Perhaps that’s not true in Latin, but you’re not impressing the ancient Romans reading this message board. It’s just not a good, descriptive word for what the OP wasn’t looking for. If you’re actually interested in -contributing-, rub your working brain cells together with an actual reading of the OP and see if maybe you can come up with an answer aside from an almost-clever one-liner. ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/30 "2004-11-06T06:41:09Z")
**quothz** , I really don’t know why you’re so hostile about this, but rather than derail this thread I’ve addressed your comments over [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=285149). ---
**Author:** ![Asteroide](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@Asteroide](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asteroide)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/31 "2004-11-06T09:44:02Z")
This discussion is getting pretty _piquant_, so before things get too heated here… Another good French word - _ **relevé** _ which avoids the ambiguity of the _ **piquant** _ type words, which are derived from the idea of stinging. If you say a dish is _ **relevé** _ it refers only to the well known peppery tang, and not to any other spicy flavor. A very literal alternative would be _ **pimenté** _ - French (and other Romance languages) distinguishes between _ **piments** _ which are chili type peppers and _ **poivre** _, which is peppercorn. ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/32 "2004-11-06T09:55:22Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@Sunspace](#): > > > > People, you mean ‘chili’, not "chile’, right? ‘Chile’ is that long narrow country in South America. > > Nope. Either spelling is correct for the pepper. You both meant to use _the_ correct spelling, chilli, right? Yeah, I know. They are all good. Chilli is best though. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/33 "2004-11-06T11:00:40Z")
Hmmm… The spanish my parents speak use the word _quemoso_ to describe chile-hot. Anyone else hear of that term? ---
**Author:** ![xash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c6cbf5/32.png) [@xash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xash)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/34 "2004-11-06T11:07:34Z")
> [@quothz](#): > > If you’re actually interested in -contributing-, rub your working brain cells together with an actual reading of the OP and see if maybe you can come up with an answer aside from an almost-clever one-liner. **quothz** , such language is not permitted in GQ. Do not repeat this. - **xash** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/35 "2004-11-06T11:45:22Z")
In both Hindi and Urdu, there is a clear distinction between _gar[sup]a[/sup]m_ meaning ‘temperature hot’ and _tez_ meaning ‘capsaicin hot’. I’m pretty sure in the Hindi movie _Mirch Masala_ I heard the workers at the chili pepper factory saying “_Yih mirch bara tez hai_” (these peppers are awful hot). _Mirch_ is the word for ‘pepper’ but it applies to both _Piper_ spp. (black peppercorns etc.) and _Capsicum frutescens_ (cayenne/chili). You have to tell them apart by saying _kali mirch_ for black pepper and _lal mirch_ for red pepper. Hot chili pepper is _tez mirch_. _Tez_ is pronounced like the beginning of the word “Taser.” The word _tez_ (from Persian) has a wide range of meanings, including ‘sharp’, ‘piercing’, ‘loud’, ‘bright’, ‘acrid’, ‘strong’, ‘passionate’, ‘impetuous’, ‘clever’, ‘fast’, and ‘hot’ in a figurative sense (like “hot on the trail”) as well as in a taste sense. _Tez_ is a cognate of Sanskrit _tejas_ which means ‘vigorous energy, fire, ardor, brilliance’. _Tejas_ seems appropriate for Tex-Mex chili too. _¡Olé!_ The word _garam_ (from Persian _garm_, which is a cognate of English _warm_), basically means temperature hot, but also applies to drugs and foods which stimulate the body’s metabolism. Actually, _garam masala_ isn’t called that because of hot taste in the spices, but because the spices are thought to raise the body’s metabolism. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/36 "2004-11-06T14:44:17Z")
> [@InvidiousCourgette](#): > > You both meant to use _the_ correct spelling, chilli, right? > > Yeah, I know. They are all good. Chilli is best though. 😉 Yes, all three are correct, but the spelling “chilli” is mostly found in the UK (and Commonwealth). _Chile_ is the spelling used in Spanish, which also calls them _aji_. More information about chilies can be found in my Staff Report: [Are birds immune to hot pepper?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mchili.html) ---
**Author:** ![Sofis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Sofis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofis)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/37 "2004-11-06T14:52:56Z")
Swedish distinguishes. ‘Varm’ or ‘het’ refer to temperature, while ‘stark’ (= ‘strong’) or ‘kryddstark’ (‘krydda’ = ‘spice’) refers to spicy-hot. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/38 "2004-11-06T15:20:17Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > > [@Sunspace](#): > > > > People, you mean ‘chili’, not "chile’, right? ‘Chile’ is that long narrow country in South America. > > Nope. Either spelling is correct for the pepper. Heck, in some parts of the country, people (like me) draw a distinction between “chile” and “chili”. “Chile” is the vegetable (fruit, I suppose, technically) and “chili” is the meat/bean/spices mix. It’s like the difference between real Mexican or New Mexican food and Tex-Mex. [Here’s](http://www.fiery-foods.com/dave/profile_nmpep.html) an interesting page. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/39 "2004-11-06T16:09:04Z")
After receiving an email about this topic (!) I looked ‘chile’ up in my dictionary (Collins English). According to Collins, ‘chile’ is listed as an alternate in English for what is usually spelt ‘chilli’, alsthough the Spanich _chile con carne_ is also mentioned. I was surprised to see the double-L spelling; I don’t remember seeing this in use in Toronto. It seems to me that we always spell the food ‘chili’. I am now confused. Perhaps I should go to more Mexican restaurants. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mirasawa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mirasawa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mirasawa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252/40 "2004-11-06T16:15:32Z")
> [@quothz](#): > > I would not be the least bit surprised if, in a generation or so, “buffalo” took over formal duty in that regard, but for now I think we have to wing it. Uh, so to speak. Great post except for that line. Boo! You should be ashamed of yourself. 😃 \_ \_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-languages-have-an-unabiguous-word-for-hot-because-of-chile/273252.md?page=3)