Carling Cup Final 2011 countdown

Do you want curry chicken or chicken curry? Choose well.

Maybe you think this is a chicken and egg story. Chicken first or egg first? Sorry to disappoint you, this is not a chicken and egg story. This is an english lesson.

The correct terms to use are 'chicken curry' OR 'curried chicken' and not curry chicken. They both refer to the same dish.

In English, when we have an adjective next to the noun it describes, the adjective comes before the noun.

In 'chicken curry', 'curry' is the noun and 'chicken' is a noun acting like an adjective and describing 'curry'. The term is similar in structure to 'chicken soup'.

In 'curried chicken', 'chicken' is the noun and 'curried' is the past participle of the verb 'to curry' (meaning to make a curry out of meat, etc) acting as an adjective. The term is similar in structure to 'fried chicken'.

I think we learn 'curry chicken' from the Malay language, 'kari ayam'.

(quoting from T8 of Mind our English by Kee Thuan Chye, 1st Nov 2006 with some add-ons by Joshua the Adventurer)