Word of the Day

: July 10, 2014

pho

noun FUH

What It Means

: a soup made of beef or chicken broth and rice noodles

pho in Context

Joan and Rob decided they were too tired to cook, and ordered pho with an assortment of other Vietnamese food.

"As a first-generation Vietnamese-American growing up in Stillwater, I enjoyed my family's Sunday tradition that paid tribute to both cultures near and far: We read the local newspaper together, ate pho and watched the Minnesota Vikings game or any other sporting event that was on at the time." - Nancy Ngo, St. Paul Pioneer Press, January 28, 2014

Did You Know?

"Pho," which first appeared in print in English in 1935, was borrowed from a Vietnamese word which was spelled "phở." English speakers replaced the vowel with "o" but preserved the pronunciation as "fuh," rather than "foh." Another Vietnamese food word that was borrowed into English is "nuoc mam," which refers to a type of fish sauce that is fermented in brine. In that case as well, the original Vietnamese word had accent marks that were lost on the journey into English. "Nuoc mam" was recorded in English just a few years before "pho" arrived.