Ketchup packets in English and Chinese
When you order take-out in NYC, the ketchup packets often times come written in English on one side and Chinese on the other. What’s interesting about this is that if you look up the history of the word ketchup, it comes from the Chinese word for fish sauce, k
chap.
Source: Bartleby.com
I’ve been fascinated by these too. I asked a Chinese co-worker what it meant, and it’s something like “The most loved ketchup in the world.” I wonder what the deal is.
Just found your site yesterday, and enjoying your blogs and photos very much.
Actually, the word “ketchup” is in fact “tomato sauce” in Chinese rather than fish sauce.
The packets look exactly like those offered in Hong Kong’s McDonald’s, and if memory serves in Canadian and US McDonald’s as well; except that we don’t get the Chinese printing. Go figure. ^_^ Maybe it was popularity of McDonald’s that gave them the idea of “The most loved ketchup in the world”.