Daily Archives: June 8, 2017


Working on translation of any living languages that continuously evolve like English and Chinese often offers interesting, sometimes challenging, phrases.  One of these is “当红炸子鸡(Dānghóng zhà zǐjī)“. If you googled this phrase, you will receive many results on a popular dish otherwise known as “fried chicken”.  Only a few results […]

当红炸子鸡 Fried Chicken?






There are many words in the English dictionary today that was once just someone’s names. Boycott Meaning: to avoid dealing with or to prevent dealing with as a protest Origin: Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott who was boycotted by his own tenants in the late 19th century. Quisling Meaning: Traitor, particularly […]

From names to words




If you googled “vanilla extract”, the first site you will see on the results list is this entry in Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_extract.  It described exactly what I always thought of vanilla extract – all plant, all natural, just a chemical process to extract the essence. I was watching “The Story of Food” […]

Vanilla Extract