Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1960s
Mu shu
from 木須 (mù xū)
- Meaning
- A Chinese-American dish of stir-fried pork, vegetables, and egg served in thin pancakes.
- Source word
- 木須 (mù xū)
- Route into English
- Mandarin *mù xū* (osmanthus flower, whose yellow cluster the scrambled egg resembles) → English via mid-20th-century US Chinese restaurants, where it became a widely known dish.
- Arrived
- 1960s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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