[Sca-cooks] Chai, was Cardamom, was articles was fine spice powder

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Daniel Schneider <macbrighid at campus.ie> wrote:
>  you could make *lots* of chai

OK, this is a *cooks* list, so i *have* to vent. Please don't take 
this personally, Daniel. It's not you. It's the whole world that's 
crazy, except me and probably nearly every South Asian.

Chai means tea
Chai only means tea.
(as in the kind from Camellia sinensis)

If someone means tea with spices (and usually sweetener and milk), 
these days they generally mean "masala chai"

Chai means tea.
Chai only means tea.

This recent usage in the US (and i assume some other places) is 
driving me nuts.

What drives me even nuttier is "Chai tea". It's reduplicative. It's 
not really informative. It's like saying "hamburger hamburger"

PLEASE, PLEASE - i'm not shouting, i'm begging, i'm pleading - if 
someone means *spiced tea* say "spiced tea" or "masala chai". PLEASE 
PLEASE do not just say "chai".

Chai means tea.
Chai only means tea.

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