Over lunch today, my brother mentioned that our grandmother (and I suppose a number of our older relatives here in Singapore) often ask the question: "You know how to eat ______?" about any local dish ranging from buah keluak (sometimes translated as candlestick nuts) to steamed pomfret.
The thing is, the question isn't about whether we know the method or art of eating that particular dish (usually: open mouth, insert food, masticate, swallow). It's about whether we eat the dish at all, with the implication that we like to eat it.
The form of the question is most likely a calque or word for word borrowing from a southern Chinese language/dialect like Teochew or Hokkien. Mum said the question in Teochew over lunch: leu hiau chiat? (lit. 'you know eat?') (not really sure how to transliterate these), where hiau is a modal verb that can be translated as 'can' (in the sense of possessing the general ability) or 'know'. Other languages often obligatorily use a verb meaning 'know' when referring to behaviour that must be learnt, such as cooking and driving, where English has the more general 'can' which can apply to general ability to do something, having permission to do something or having the opportunity to do something. An example off the top of my head: 'He can cook (in the sense that he knows how to, not that he will have time to do so).' would be Il sait faire la cuisine in French (from what I understand, Il peut faire la cuisine would be more appropriate if one means he has the opportunity to cook.)
In Teochew, this modal verb is also applied to the act of eating particular dishes, which is viewed as behaviour that must be learnt. It's therefore not surprising that when I tell my grandmother, "Yes Mama, I know how to eat this", she will often respond with, 'Wah, so clever.'
The thing is, the question isn't about whether we know the method or art of eating that particular dish (usually: open mouth, insert food, masticate, swallow). It's about whether we eat the dish at all, with the implication that we like to eat it.
The form of the question is most likely a calque or word for word borrowing from a southern Chinese language/dialect like Teochew or Hokkien. Mum said the question in Teochew over lunch: leu hiau chiat? (lit. 'you know eat?') (not really sure how to transliterate these), where hiau is a modal verb that can be translated as 'can' (in the sense of possessing the general ability) or 'know'. Other languages often obligatorily use a verb meaning 'know' when referring to behaviour that must be learnt, such as cooking and driving, where English has the more general 'can' which can apply to general ability to do something, having permission to do something or having the opportunity to do something. An example off the top of my head: 'He can cook (in the sense that he knows how to, not that he will have time to do so).' would be Il sait faire la cuisine in French (from what I understand, Il peut faire la cuisine would be more appropriate if one means he has the opportunity to cook.)
In Teochew, this modal verb is also applied to the act of eating particular dishes, which is viewed as behaviour that must be learnt. It's therefore not surprising that when I tell my grandmother, "Yes Mama, I know how to eat this", she will often respond with, 'Wah, so clever.'
