This site uses cookies. Some of these cookies are essential to the operation of the site, while others help to improve your experience by providing insights into how the site is being used. For more information, please see the ProZ.com privacy policy.
Cookie settings
  1. KudoZ™ Top
  2. Chinese to English

Dim Sum

English translation: Dim Sum

13:38 Sep 20, 2002
Chinese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary
Chinese term or phrase: Dim Sum
Dim Sum House
the Headway text has this thing in the text:

Chinatown area in London is described and Dim Sum House is mentioned.
I've looked it up in the internet, what that can mean. It's a kind of a
chinese
restaurant. But is it any peculiar kind? Are these Dim Sum restaurants
famous for anything?
wHAT is a Dim Sum?
sergei
English translation:Dim Sum
Explanation:
is not translated. It's a restaurant where they walk around with trays or carts of little dishes and you point at what you want as it goes by. THere are usually lots of <buns> - meat or vegetables wrapped in dough, lots of vegetable platters, spring rolls, lots of fried stuff. I just had dim sum in San Francisco and we ate steamed ribs, lots of pork, shrimp, vegetable buns, greasy donuts, etc. It's basic a Chinese version of tapas.
Selected response from:

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 19:23
Grading comment
Thank you all for your answers (special thanks to Jerraine for wonderful links!)
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5 +3点心
jinshi
5 +2Dim Sum
Marian Greenfield
5 +1Dim Sum
Sunshine Wang
4 +2Cantonese refreshments 約狥翴み
Francis Fine
5 +1Dim Sum
jerraine
5dim sum
Paola Grassi
5refreshments, snacks
Elizabeth Ruggiero


  

Answers


4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Dim Sum


Explanation:
is not translated. It's a restaurant where they walk around with trays or carts of little dishes and you point at what you want as it goes by. THere are usually lots of <buns> - meat or vegetables wrapped in dough, lots of vegetable platters, spring rolls, lots of fried stuff. I just had dim sum in San Francisco and we ate steamed ribs, lots of pork, shrimp, vegetable buns, greasy donuts, etc. It's basic a Chinese version of tapas.

Marian Greenfield
Local time: 19:23
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Grading comment
Thank you all for your answers (special thanks to Jerraine for wonderful links!)

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Richard Altwarg: Exactly. Frequently eaten as breakfast/brunch or late night snack.
10 mins
agree  tamhas: Yes, Dim Sum is a range of snacks eaten as snack or even a meal if you have enough. The point is they are all small snack-like foods as Marian has described, rather than dishes. Look it up in a mandarin dictionary under "dianxin" and see what you get.
1 day 22 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
dim sum


Explanation:
it is a particula chinese dish

Paola Grassi
Local time: 01:23
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

14 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +3
点心


Explanation:
It originates from 点心 (dian 3 xin 1), meaning 'cookies, cakes, spring rolls and other snacks or refreshments' in Chinese.

jinshi
Local time: 07:23
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 158

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Libin PhD
7 mins
  -> Thank you
agree  Chinoise: Excellent!
34 mins
  -> Thank you
agree  Zhoudan
1 day 19 hrs
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
refreshments, snacks


Explanation:
"Dim Sum" is the Cantonese romanization of the Mandarin dian3 xin1 and, in the case of a restaurant, refers to the Cantonese style of dining (as explained in the explanations already submitted). The literal translation is "little (dim or dian) hearts (sum or xin)". It is important to understand that the words Dim Sum are romanizations of Cantonese pronunciations.

Elizabeth Ruggiero
United States
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 8
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Dim Sum


Explanation:
I agree with all of the explanations posted here. You don't need to translate it.
"Dim Sum" is is a westernized word for such type of Chinese food. It is a loanword from Chinese. Using the Chinese pronounciation, it is written in English.
According to <The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language>, the 4th edition, "Dim Sum, n. A traditional Chinese cuisine in which small portions of variey of food, including an assortmentof steamed or fried dumplines, are served in successions."


Sunshine Wang
Local time: 16:23
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 24

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chinoise: 油条，花卷，麻花，烧饼,馒头......
17 mins
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Cantonese refreshments 約狥翴み


Explanation:
I agree with Jinshi that 翴み is the best translation.
And in Western countries itis often not translated by meaning (Though it does not mean it should not.)and only transliterated phonetically.
But, since: (1) the name (rather the pronunciation) is in the Cantonese dialect and (2) the content (what is offered at such restaurants) is also unmistakably Cantonese, I\'d propose \"antonese refreshments\" (約狥翴み) as answer to this problem.

Francis Fine
United States
Local time: 16:23
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 89

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chinoise: Reasonable!
7 mins
  -> Thank you for the comment. We do have an ideal fforum to air all kinds of ideas and reveal different viewpoints.
agree  Libin PhD: 約Α翴み
13 days
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

4 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
Dim Sum


Explanation:
I agree with all the other proz above.

Here is a link to a website where pictures of some most popular Dim Sum dishes.

http://www.dimsum.com/ds1.html

This page below has Dim Sum history and recipes.

(My favorite dishes are the "steamed lotus seed buns" and the chicken feet).

http://chinesefood.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=/li...

jerraine
Local time: 17:23
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 16

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Chinoise: How to translate "steamed lotus seed buns" into Chinese? Where can I find them?Happy Mid-autumn Festival!^_^
4 mins
  -> 浆籘. Happy Mid Autumn Festival to you too!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)



Login or register (free and only takes a few minutes) to participate in this question.

You will also have access to many other tools and opportunities designed for those who have language-related jobs (or are passionate about them). Participation is free and the site has a strict confidentiality policy.

Return to KudoZ list

KudoZ™ translation help

The KudoZ network provides a framework for translators and others to assist each other with translations or explanations of terms and short phrases.

See also:
ProZ.com term search
Search millions of term translations
Close search
Term search
  • All of ProZ.com
  • Term search
  • Jobs
  • Forums
  • Multiple search