# 对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码



## ouzhantekin

大家好，

我念一段短文时遇到这句话

（这个短文是有关华人过年时吃的年夜饭）

记得去年， 我就是第一个对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码的人。      ---> 这句话里的   ·菜码· 是什么意思？ 为什么要用  ·码· 这个字？

谢谢！


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## xiaolijie

"菜码"是拌在面里吃的菜。


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## kareno999

ouzhantekin said:


> 大家好，
> 
> 我念一段短文时遇到这句话
> 
> （这个短文是有关华人过年时吃的年夜饭）
> 
> 记得去年， 我就是第一个对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码的人。      ---> 这句话里的   ·菜码· 是什么意思？ 为什么要用  ·码· 这个字？
> 
> 谢谢！


Absolutely no idea. Never even heard of this word before.


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## Ghabi

Hi Ouzhantekin! I think 菜碼 in your sentence means 菜單, i.e. what particular dishes are to be eaten on the New Year's Eve. In other culinary contexts, 菜碼 refers specifically to the sliced vegetables eaten along with noodle (compare the word 澆頭, which can means the sauce, but also the side dish eaten along with the noodle). 

As to the usage of 碼, I think it's a bit like "ingredients/components", compare the word 戲碼 "repertoire" (originally used for 戲曲, it can be used in other fields nowadays; for example, when talking about soccer you may say 今天晚上是德國對葡萄牙,戲碼可不小呢!).

In the kitchen of a traditional Cantonese restaurant, there's a position known as zap1maa2 執碼 (Cantonese 執=Mandarin 拾/檢), whose work consists of sorting out the ingredients needed for the dishes before cooking. This 碼 also seems to mean "ingredients".


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## 南島君

Ghabi said:


> Hi Ouzhantekin! I think 菜碼 in your sentence means  菜單, i.e. what particular dishes are to be eaten on the New Year's Eve.  In other culinary contexts, 菜碼 refers specifically to the sliced  vegetables eaten along with noodle (compare the word 澆頭, which can means  the sauce, but also the side dish eaten along with the noodle).
> 
> As to the usage of 碼, I think it's a bit like "ingredients/components",  compare the word 戲碼 "repertoire" (originally used for 戲曲, it can be used  in other fields nowadays; for example, when talking about soccer you  may say 今天晚上是德國對葡萄牙,戲碼可不小呢!).
> 
> In the kitchen of a traditional Cantonese restaurant, there's a position  known as zap1maa2 執碼 (Cantonese 執=Mandarin 拾/檢), whose work consists of  sorting out the ingredients needed for the dishes before cooking. This 碼  also seems to mean "ingredients".



Not sure about 菜碼 as 菜單 part (never heard of it, maybe a slang/dialectic  expression?), but agree a lot on the 菜碼(sliced vegetable)、戲碼、執碼 explanation. I think a related word  here is 籌碼.


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## xiaolijie

Although at first I thought, as I posted, "菜码" was "sliced/shredded vegetables for eating with noodles", but thinking further about it, this meaning doesn't go well in the cited context. So I think Ghabi's suggestion of 菜單 must be what is intended here.


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## SuperXW

I've heard of 菜码 several times when I was dining with relatives and friends in Beijing. 
At first I was not sure about the meaning. But according to 百度, it's "*sliced/shredded vegetables for eating with noodles*". Like when we eat 炸酱面, we usually need some 菜码 to eat with to adjust the overall taste.
In think in 我就是第一个对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码的人, 菜码 is understood as "separate dishes", that's kind of an *expansion *of 菜码's 百度 meaning.
Think about the scenario: "We have bought the main dishes, but we'd like to ask the mothers to prepare *some smaller dishes to eat with*."
This is just my guess. Free free to give other explanations.


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## bubokribuck

一道菜通常都是有肉有菜，所以當準備一道菜的時候，一般需要的是：菜碼，肉碼，調味料。

但一般是做餐飲業的才會細分得這麼清楚，如果是自己在家做飯，一般都是說“食材”或“材料”而已。


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## kareno999

bubokribuck said:


> 一道菜通常都是有肉有菜，所以當準備一道菜的時候，一般需要的是：菜碼，肉碼，調味料。
> 
> 但一般是做餐飲業的才會細分得這麼清楚，如果是自己在家做飯，一般都是說“食材”或“材料”而已。



Hmmm. Now that you mention that, I think 菜碼/ 肉碼 are probably originated from 菜末/ 肉末. 可能是北京土话的读法吧...


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## SuperXW

kareno999 said:


> Hmmm. Now that you mention that, I think 菜碼/ 肉碼 are probably originated from 菜末/ 肉末. 可能是北京土话的读法吧...


I grew up in Beijing. I hardly think 菜码 is originated from 菜末... It's not like the way of 北京土话...
One meaning of 码 is “stack” (n./v.). I feel this could be the origin of 菜码? Because you need to stack up the different vegetables like 筹码 on a cutting board...?

By the way, in my mind, 菜单 means "a menu". "To order a menu" sounds not so good to me. Ghabi, do you say "预定菜单"?


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## ztxforever

"菜码"means the vegetable what is cut into pieces.
It's usually use in the noodle.
In china,we celebrate something use noodl,like birthday or be admitted to a university.


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## ztxforever

“菜码”  is only the vegetable cut in to pieces.we usually eat it with noodle.
the "菜码" usually is "cucumber""bean sprouts""carrot"and so on.


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## ouzhantekin

For some reason I didn't get an e-mail giving me a notice that I had replies to my posting so I haven't written anything for so long. So I'm sorry for that.

About the explanations, I guess, after reading all of the replies, 菜码 is basically a side dish that mostly consists of vegetables. 

Somehow, the suggestion 菜单 didn't make as much sense as the previous explanation because in the story there are about three daughters who starts bombarding their mother with their special wants for the 年夜饭. I just couldn't fit that into this context. 

Thanks a lot for all your efforts to explain that to me and sorry again for posting something and not replying with anything this long.


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## xiaolijie

> Somehow, the suggestion 菜单 didn't make as much sense as the previous explanation because in the story there are about three daughters who starts bombarding their mother with their special wants for the 年夜饭. I just couldn't fit that into this context.


I can't tell whether "菜单" is the best word to choose here but “菜码” in the sense of "_shredded vegetables for eating with noodles_" is definitely not the one. “菜码” here is meant "a selection of dishes for the 年夜饭, nominated by family members out of their favorite dishes". So, what is the right word for this? I wouldn't mind at all whether “菜码” or "菜单" is used, since the intended meaning is clear from the context.


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## ouzhantekin

My point was that you wouldn't (I mean at least I wouldn't) consider your mom to be a chef or a waitress for whom you would prepare a MENU so that she could prepare all of it... I find it a little bit hard to express what I'm trying to say even though it is actually easy to understand but I just can't figure the correct words. Well, briefly, if I was to translate this into, say English, I guess I wouldnt say menu because that would not go with the context where you want your mom to cook something(s) for you as that would lead me to think that you consider your mom as a chef or a person that is obliged to cook for you...


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## BODYholic

ouzhantekin said:


> （这个短文是有关华人过年时吃的年夜饭）
> 
> 记得去年， *我*就是第一个对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码的人。





ouzhantekin said:


> My point was that you wouldn't (I mean at least I wouldn't) consider your mom to be a chef or a waitress for whom you would prepare a MENU so that she could prepare all of it... I find it a little bit hard to express what I'm trying to say even though it is actually easy to understand but I just can't figure the correct words. Well, briefly, if I was to translate this into, say English, I guess I wouldnt say menu because that would not go with the context where you want your mom to cook something(s) for you as that would lead me to think that you consider your mom as a chef or a person that is obliged to cook for you...



Could 菜码 (i.e. 菜 + 码) be 买菜钱? It would help us if we know exactly who is the speaker. 
Basically, I am speculating that 此菜码 非彼菜码.


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## Ghabi

SuperXW said:


> By the way, in my mind, 菜单 means "a menu". "To order a menu" sounds not so good to me. Ghabi, do you say "预定菜单"?


We often say 訂定菜單 (for example, before going to a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion) in Cantonese, but it probably sounds odd in Mandarin.



ouzhantekin said:


> My point was that you wouldn't (I mean at least I wouldn't) consider your mom to be a chef or a waitress for whom you would prepare a MENU so that she could prepare all of it...


It's supposed to humorous, isn't it? I mean, using the formal word 預訂 and the circumlocutory expression 孩子們的媽媽 only shows the intimacy, not the distance, between the author and his wife. For example, you may say, 我最近想買一輛新車,但先得向老婆大人申請撥款, and no one would thus think that your wife is a government treasurer.


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## ztxforever

这个就是菜码


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## ouzhantekin

Ghabi said:


> We often say 訂定菜單 (for example, before going to a restaurant to celebrate a special occasion) in Cantonese, but it probably sounds odd in Mandarin.
> 
> 
> It's supposed to humorous, isn't it? I mean, using the formal word 預訂 and the circumlocutory expression 孩子們的媽媽 only shows the intimacy, not the distance, between the author and his wife. For example, you may say, 我最近想買一輛新車,但先得向老婆大人申請撥款, and no one would thus think that your wife is a government treasurer.




I could understand this kind of approach, and it makes perfect sense when the author has some humor going in his/her mind. 




ztxforever said:


> View attachment 10068
> 这个就是菜码



This picture is also quite helpful if there is no connotative meaning in the word and it is used colloquially to mean the appetizer-kind-of side dish that goes with noodles. 

Either way this has been a very helpful discussion. I want to thank all of you. Whether the author was being humorous or not is something that we'll never be sure of


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## xiaolijie

ouzhantekin said:


> My point was that you wouldn't (I mean at least I wouldn't) consider your mom to be a chef or a waitress for whom you would prepare a MENU so that she could prepare all of it... I find it a little bit hard to express what I'm trying to say even though it is actually easy to understand but I just can't figure the correct words. Well, briefly, if I was to translate this into, say English, I guess I wouldnt say menu because that would not go with the context where you want your mom to cook something(s) for you as that would lead me to think that you consider your mom as a chef or a person that is obliged to cook for you...


Did you read the story, ouzhantekin? You sound like you either didn't read it or didn't understand it, so it'd be difficult for you to understand the explanation of “菜码”. I only tried to tell you the *meaning as used in the context* (in post #14). Outside of this particular context, “菜码” means something completely different (For this reason, anyone here who offers you advice without first reading the story is also likely to be wrong!).


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## yyyhhh163

对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码,这个“对”用的不好，用“为”更恰当。“定”应改为“订”
由此可见，这句话的作者是个中国的南方人，文字功底略差。
“菜码”一词用的不好，南方人喜欢用这个词表示吃面条时需要添加的小菜，而北方人却把“菜码”当作“菜量”，如“尺码”里的“码”就是量的意思。
我认为“记得去年， 我就是第一个对孩子们的妈妈预定菜码的人。” 应改为 “记得去年， 我就是第一个为孩子们的妈妈预订菜单的人。”


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