The Answer to the Irresistable Language Builder Moment ... from my bloggito on Wednesday...



The answers, in order, are in this sentence:



The angry, hungry silver-eyed monster grabbed its jerky and smothered it in ketchup.



The word ketchup has its roots originally in Malay, but it came to American English via the Chinese. It used to mean any of a variety of fish sauces, and I guess the Indonesian red fish sauce is still called something like ket-jap.



Here is what EtymOnline.com has to say:

ketchup

    1711, from Malay kichap, from Chinese (Amoy dial.) koechiap "brine of fish." Catsup (earlier catchup) is a failed attempt at Anglicization, still in use in U.S. Originally a fish sauce, early English recipes included among their ingredients mushrooms, walnuts, cucumbers, and oysters. Modern form of the sauce began to emerge when U.S. seamen added tomatoes.