In ,
RLK dashes_ typed:

Could someone enlighten me please. I know, I know I should know
I'm
AA but I need some facts. The inevitable joke about cats being
served
up as a Chinese meal came up recently at another newsgroup.
When I
objected to it being inappropriate as a joke, I was told the
word
"chow" meant food and that I "should know that". As to why I
was told
this, I'm not sure if it was a derogatory definition referring
to dog
meat.


There seems to be no agreement at all on the word's etymology.
Here are what some of the major dictionaries say:

The OED says "Food, or a meal of, of any kind. This sense is
supposed to be due to the use of the chow ('the edible dog of
China') as food by poor Chinese."

The American Heritage Dictionary says "Pidgin English, probably
from Mandarin Chinese cha'o, to stir, fry cook."

Merriam Webster say " "perhaps from CHinese (Peking) chiao, meat
dumplings."

And Random House refrains from speculating on any etymology at
all.

Given that lack of agreement, it's clear that nobody knows, and
personally I choose not to believe any of the speculation.

--
Ken Blake
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