美食 "Delicious Food"

[yukio_michael]

On a package of Chinese takeout I have, it looks like the first character is 美, which in Japanese is akin to beauty, etc... The second one, I know is 食.

Is this correct chinese for "delicious food" ?? My kanji study is enough recently to pick out familiar characters in Chinese and guess the meaning, but I'm not sure if I got the first character right.

Thanks.

[leonmarino]

I'm no Chinese but I'd say your guess is pretty much right. 「美味」 in Japanese means "delicious" so I think 「美食」 is "tasty food"..

But then again, I had a conversation with a Chinese girl the other day, and she told me 「勉強」 means "reluctance" in Chinese!! While it means "study" in Japanese hahaha!!

I find it interesting how the Japanese and Chinese language resemble each other on some fronts, and differ totally on other fronts.

[yukio_michael]

I'm no Chinese but I'd say your guess is pretty much right. 「美味」 in Japanese means "delicious" so I think 「美食」 is "tasty food"..

Not that I'm an expert but I wonder why noone uses this phrase, other than "umai--- / maiu--- oshii~~~~!

Off topic--- but, you know--- (as in the thread title above), Chinese characters should NEVER be in bold--- (the way the forum makes thread titles bold), they're completely unreadable!

[Supervin]

美食...
Is this correct chinese for "delicious food" ??

Yep. 美食 is actually short for 美味食物 (or 美味しい食べ物 in Japanese). You would see it in food related text, like in restaurants or food adverts. In Japanese, the 美食 contraction is used as well.

「勉強」 means "reluctance" in Chinese!! While it means "study" in Japanese hahaha!!

It's true, hahah. 勉強 in Chinese means 'forcing yourself or someone to do something' (i.e. oblige/compel) and also reluctance, which ironically in Japanese means 'to study'.

bold--- ... they're completely unreadable!

Yeah, it does take getting used to, since each character is squashed and deformed into one arbitrary square already making it difficult to read text when small, let alone in bold of that size.

[Maciamo]

So "beautuful taste" means "tasty/delicious" ? Funny. If hey use 美食 for "delicious food", then how would they descrive beautifully presented food, for which Japan is famous ?

[caster51]

beautifully presented food

絢爛
豪華絢爛な料理
奇麗な料理...........

[fin1990]

So "beautuful taste" means "tasty/delicious" ? Funny. If hey use 美食 for "delicious food", then how would they descrive beautifully presented food, for which Japan is famous ?

i think it is 精美的食品
精美 means elegant and delicate.
精美的食品 means some snacks which is packed or presented very delicately.
But this can only use in snacks or dessert or food with small size, it cannot use to describe dishes.
By the way, about 美食, there is a usually used phrase 美食天堂 (Gourmet Paradise)
美食天堂 is used to describe a place with lots of delicious food. So it is Gourmet Paradise.
Note that 天堂 means Heaven

[leonmarino]

美食天堂 is used to describe a place with lots of delicious food. So it is Gourmet Paradise.

That'll be my final destination.. How much is a one-way ticket?

[huayue]

美食天堂..sounds like a restaraunt...BTW.Sichuan is famous for its food

[fin1990]

美食天堂..sounds like a restaraunt...BTW.Sichuan is famous for its food

I learnt this phrase from Hong Kong Tourism Board. Its advertisements always say Hong Kong is 美食天堂....=_=........also other advertisements which promoting other countries used this phrase too. I remember the advertisement from Malaysia.......=_=......

[uloocn]

hahah. 勉強 in Chinese means 'forcing yourself or someone to do something' (i.e. oblige/compel) and also reluctance, which ironically in Japanese means 'to study'.

勉 in Chinese has some meaning of 'study', it is ancient use but still use today. such as 自勉/勉励.