Words and phrases for food and drinks or related to their preparation, consumption, tradition, and other aspects.
12
votes
6answers
3k views
What's the difference between “gohan” and “meshi”?
In answer to my question on the difference between "gyudon" and "gyumeshi" I learned that "meshi" just means cooked rice. But I thought "gohan" meant cooked rice, so please, what is the difference?
I ...
15
votes
4answers
580 views
Since Japanese already had several words for rice why was “ライス” (raisu) borrowed from English?
Last night I had dinner in a ramen restaurant in northern Japan and was surprised to read the katakana "ライス" (raisu) on the menu. This is obviously the English word "rice" borrowed. But what kind of ...
12
votes
2answers
323 views
Different conventions for animal meat
After reading this awesome question, I got to thinking about different animal meat. Upon researching a little, there seems to be different conventions in referring to different meats.
Using 訓読み
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8
votes
1answer
151 views
What is the difference between “meshi” and “don” for the food sometimes translated as “rice bowl” in English?
I'm a big fan of the Japanese fast food gyudon (cooked thinly sliced beef strips on top of a bowl of boiled white rice) and its variants such as butadon (the same but with pork).
But why do some ...
7
votes
2answers
283 views
What words are used for dolphin meat?
What words are used for dolphin meat?
Searching jisho.org using "dolphin" in the English field listed several different words for dolphin, but no compounds involving meat.
Neither the English nor ...
7
votes
3answers
705 views
Does “おつまみ” (otsumami) mean “snack” or “rice crackers” or “crunchy snack” like chips and peanuts, or something else entirely?
This is a word I learned by reading and not by studying or in conversation with Japanese.
After learning the kana years ago I had occasion to fly with JAL and the pre-meal snack was a little packet ...
7
votes
1answer
675 views
What's the difference between “マグロ” (maguro), “ツナ” (tsuna), and “シーチキン” (shiichikin)?
It seems that there are (at least) three words for "tuna" in Japanese:
"マグロ" / "鮪" / "まぐろ" (maguro) - Seems to be the native name for the creature and used at least in sushi
"ツナ" (tsuna) - Seems to ...
