Word Origins

 

*CHOP SUEY

The chop is English, in the sense of “chipped” or “cut,” but the suey is Chinese sui, “bits.” Like the term itself, the concoction is of mixed origin. It was first devised over one hundred twenty years ago by Chinese operating a restaurant in Brooklyn, who composed it of bits of fried or stewed chicken or pork, rice, noodles, and sesame seeds or oil, and served steamy in its own juice. Author Herbert Asbury stated in 1928 it was the invention of a dishwasher in San Francisco about 1860. 

*Inspired by Charles Funk (1881–1957)