# What do Taiwanese people mean when they describe food as "Q"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Food & Drink\ **Created:** [December 19, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987 "2013-12-19T00:38:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Milkybar\_Kid](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@Milkybar\_Kid](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Milkybar_Kid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/1 "2013-12-19T00:38:05Z")
Hi, I have come across this many times however I have always forgotten to ask about it. Today I saw it on the news once again. I will often hear Taiwanese people describe some foods as being “very Q”, having a “Q feeling” or other descriptors all using this Q. They will also use the Roman letter Q in written texts and not a Chinese character. Does anyone know what it means? Does it come from Taiwanese? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![headhonchoII](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@headhonchoII](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/headhonchoII)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:42am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/2 "2013-12-19T00:42:43Z")
It means the chewy texture which they like very much and which most westerners don’t really like. A good example are ‘Mua JI’ sticky rice cakes formed from pounding rice into a rubbery mass. ---
**Author:** ![Matchstick\_man](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Matchstick\_man](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Matchstick_man)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/3 "2013-12-19T00:54:50Z")
> [@Milkybar\_Kid](#): > > Does it come from Taiwanese? Yes. There’s another thread discussing English that has been appropriated in Taiwan that explains this and “vs” among others. * * * ADMIN’S NOTE: > [@Taiwanese misappropriating English words/letters/initials](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/taiwanese-misappropriating-english-words-letters-initials/35001/9): > > Chris, that’s a great bit of information. I always suspected that there was a character for “QQ”, and looking up 糗 in the MOE online dictionary, it does give “黏在一起” (stick together) as a definition. In the online Taiwanese-Mandarin dictionary 台文華文線頂辭典, it gives 糗 as being pronounced “khiu” (or Q), and has a definitions ranging from elastic (彈), to sticky (黏), to soft (綿). ---
**Author:** ![Belgian\_Pie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Belgian\_Pie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Belgian_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 12:56am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/4 "2013-12-19T00:56:33Z")
Now we have a QQPasta in the neighborhood …😒 Responses to dumb posts were sent from my Nexus 7, I hate Apple BTW, with Tapatalk 8 ---
**Author:** ![Milkybar\_Kid](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/m/54ee81/32.png) [@Milkybar\_Kid](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Milkybar_Kid)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/5 "2013-12-19T01:50:20Z")
> [@headhonchoII](#): > > It means the chewy texture which they like very much and which most westerners don’t really like. > > A good example are ‘Mua JI’ sticky rice cakes formed from pounding rice into a rubbery mass. Thank you. I have eaten those “Mua Ji” stick rice cakes that you refer to and actually I didn’t think they were too bad. 🙂 I have eaten worse. ---
**Author:** ![Belgian\_Pie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Belgian\_Pie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Belgian_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:53am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/6 "2013-12-19T02:53:39Z")
So QQPasta is very, double sticky Italian style noodles?:lol: Responses to dumb posts were sent from my Nexus 7, I hate Apple BTW, with Tapatalk 8 ---
**Author:** ![Dragonbones](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/dragonbones/32/1125_2.png) [@Dragonbones](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Dragonbones)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:55am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/7 "2013-12-19T02:55:03Z")
> [@Belgian Pie](#): > > Now we have a QQPasta in the neighborhood …😒 Now if only they could actually learn to cook it al dente (QQ)! ---
**Author:** ![tempogain](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/tempogain/32/264650_2.png) [@tempogain](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/tempogain)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 2:57am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/8 "2013-12-19T02:57:52Z")
Not necessarily “chewy” but something like “soft to the bite without being mush either.” ---
**Author:** ![Steve4nLanguage](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/steve4nlanguage/32/180867_2.png) [@Steve4nLanguage](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Steve4nLanguage)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/9 "2013-12-19T03:41:21Z")
Here are a couple of articles discussing it: [http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2252](http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=2252) [http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?1,65877,66271](http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/phorum/read.php?1,65877,66271) ---
**Author:** ![hs172](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/dbc845/32.png) [@hs172](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hs172)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 3:45am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/10 "2013-12-19T03:45:33Z")
QQ can also refer to crying right? ---
**Author:** ![urodacus](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/urodacus/32/69843_2.png) [@urodacus](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/urodacus)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 5:54am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/11 "2013-12-19T05:54:02Z")
No, that’s more like Koo, not Q (=Kyu) ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:21am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/12 "2013-12-19T06:21:40Z")
> [@hs172](#): > > QQ can also refer to crying right? only because QQ looks like tearful eyes. Q comes from the Taiwanese holo word khiū. MOE has ordered it to be written as [zdic.net/z/aa/kx/296A8.htm](http://www.zdic.net/z/aa/kx/296A8.htm), but that’s cause they are brain dead. The much more likely candidates are 䊆, 糗 or 䵕 link are provided for a character not accepted by this forum, since it is not yet unicode CJK ext-C or above compatible. ---
**Author:** ![headhonchoII](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@headhonchoII](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/headhonchoII)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:33am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/13 "2013-12-19T06:33:36Z")
> [@Tempo Gain](#): > > Not necessarily “chewy” but something like “soft to the bite without being mush either.” Well lets put it as a range of chewiness from not mushy to rubbery. ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 6:50am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/14 "2013-12-19T06:50:42Z")
> [@headhonchoII](#): > > > [@Tempo Gain](#): > > > > Not necessarily “chewy” but something like “soft to the bite without being mush either.” > > Well lets put it as a range of chewiness from not mushy to rubbery. good muâ-tsî are not supposed to be rubbery… that sounds like it is been sitting out for a long time. from the Hanji choices 䊆, 糗 and 䵕, they all describe rice or grain being made into powder form. It’s likely the word started out to describe muâ-tsî itself. Al dente would fit under the khiū description, but the word describe a wide range of chewiness. ---
**Author:** ![Belgian\_Pie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Belgian\_Pie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Belgian_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2013, 7:38am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/15 "2013-12-19T07:38:07Z")
Al dente cooked pasta in Taiwan? QQ … to cry for. Responses to dumb posts were sent from my Nexus 7, I hate Apple BTW, with Tapatalk 8 ---
**Author:** ![hansioux](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/hansioux/32/253648_2.png) [@hansioux](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/hansioux)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 6:11am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/16 "2018-12-04T06:11:36Z")
sorry to revisit this really old thread, but there was a NYT article about this phenomenon that got me thinking about it again. > **[In Italy, ‘Al Dente’ Is Prized. In Taiwan, It’s All About Food That’s ‘Q.’...](https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/04/world/asia/taiwan-food-q-texture.html?_ga=2.95332252.1006467034.1543903473-1558182369.1541569144)** > > In Taiwan, “Q” texture refers to cuisine that is “springy, soft, elastic,” usually found in foods with some kind of starch like noodles or tapioca pearls. I now believe that Q in Taigi originated from khiû (written as 虯 or 鬈), which is used to describe curly hair. Its meaning got extended to describe food with a chewing yet soft texture because of how curly hair is soft to touch but bounces back in a springy way. ---
**Author:** ![Belgian\_Pie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Belgian\_Pie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Belgian_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 6:16am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/17 "2018-12-04T06:16:50Z")
QQ! Yeah! ---
**Author:** ![tommy525](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/tommy525/32/272487_2.png) [@tommy525](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/tommy525)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/18 "2018-12-04T06:18:05Z")
No exAct English perhaps but I would say kinda sorta al dente Oops mentioned above already ---
**Author:** ![Belgian\_Pie](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8dc957/32.png) [@Belgian\_Pie](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/Belgian_Pie)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 6:37am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/19 "2018-12-04T06:37:19Z")
> [@tommy525](#): > > kinda sorta al dente Al dente in Taiwan is like a mush! If you serve al dente pasta they complain that it’s under-cooked! ---
**Author:** ![BiggusDickus](https://forumosa-12829.kxcdn.com/user_avatar/tw.forumosa.com/biggusdickus/32/90381_2.png) [@BiggusDickus](https://tw.forumosa.com/u/BiggusDickus)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2018, 6:42am UTC](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987/20 "2018-12-04T06:42:36Z")
It’s nothing like al dente. [Next page](https://tw.forumosa.com/t/what-do-taiwanese-people-mean-when-they-describe-food-as-q/80987.md?page=2)