Please pardon my bumpkinish ways, but ain’t there also a soup called Tom Yum? So how does that work?
There are similar problems when you’re learning Korean. Syllables that sound exactly the same can have totally different meaning and etymologies depending on the contexts in which you encounter them. Take the simple syllable “ee” (이):
1. Sino-Korean for “two” (il, ee, sam, sa)
2. the surname Lee/Yi/Rhee/李
3. the subject marker after the noun that’s the subject of a sentence (케빈/Kevin; 케빈이 가요/Kevin-i gayo = “Kevin goes”)
4. the particle meaning “this” (것/geot = “thing”; 이 것/ee geot = “this thing”)
5. the Chinese character for “different”
…and so many more!
Korean isn’t tonal, either, so you really have to pay attention to context. I imagine the same is true (or even more true) in Japanese.
The “yum” in both words means the same: “mix” or “mixed.”
Tom yum = “boiled mix” (of various things + main ingredient) so:
Tom yum goong literally = “boiled mixed shrimp”
Tom yum moo = “boiled mixed pork”
“Tom yum” by itself is the variety of soup
The “yum” in this post is the whole name of a dish sometimes described as “spicy Thai salad,” and you would specify the main ingredient as with the soup above. So this post is called “squid yum” but there is also “pork yum,” “noodle yum,” “mushroom yum,” etc. They will all contain various ingredients like veggies, ground meat, etc., but their main ingredient is specified in the name of the dish.
Please pardon my bumpkinish ways, but ain’t there also a soup called Tom Yum? So how does that work?
There are similar problems when you’re learning Korean. Syllables that sound exactly the same can have totally different meaning and etymologies depending on the contexts in which you encounter them. Take the simple syllable “ee” (이):
1. Sino-Korean for “two” (il, ee, sam, sa)
2. the surname Lee/Yi/Rhee/李
3. the subject marker after the noun that’s the subject of a sentence (케빈/Kevin; 케빈이 가요/Kevin-i gayo = “Kevin goes”)
4. the particle meaning “this” (것/geot = “thing”; 이 것/ee geot = “this thing”)
5. the Chinese character for “different”
…and so many more!
Korean isn’t tonal, either, so you really have to pay attention to context. I imagine the same is true (or even more true) in Japanese.
The “yum” in both words means the same: “mix” or “mixed.”
Tom yum = “boiled mix” (of various things + main ingredient) so:
Tom yum goong literally = “boiled mixed shrimp”
Tom yum moo = “boiled mixed pork”
“Tom yum” by itself is the variety of soup
The “yum” in this post is the whole name of a dish sometimes described as “spicy Thai salad,” and you would specify the main ingredient as with the soup above. So this post is called “squid yum” but there is also “pork yum,” “noodle yum,” “mushroom yum,” etc. They will all contain various ingredients like veggies, ground meat, etc., but their main ingredient is specified in the name of the dish.