香草冰淇淋
xiāng cǎo bīng qí lín
Vanilla ice cream in Chinese is 香草冰淇淋 (xiāng cǎo bīng qí lín).
The phrase refers to a frozen dessert flavored with vanilla beans or extract.
What does it mean word for word?
The term for vanilla, 香草, literally means 'fragrant grass'.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In Taiwan, 香草冰淇淋 is commonly used for vanilla ice cream. In Hong Kong, the term 雲呢拿雪糕 is commonly used for vanilla ice cream.
How do you pronounce it?
xiāng cǎo bīng qí lín
Did you know?
- Unlike in English, where 'vanilla' can colloquially mean 'plain' or 'boring', 香草 in Chinese is strictly used for the flavor or plant.
- In mainland China, the characters 冰淇淋 are a phonetic loan from the English word 'cream', specifically the second half of the phrase.
- While 冰淇淋 is used for ice cream in mainland China, the term 雪糕 in Hong Kong can refer to both ice cream and frozen popsicles.
Examples in context
- 我想要一份香草冰淇淋。I would like a serving of vanilla ice cream.
- 哥们，我们一起买点香草雪糕吧！Hey, let's buy some vanilla ice cream together, buddy!
- 我愛食香草冰淇淋。I love eating vanilla ice cream.
- 我想要一个香草冰淇淋。Wǒ xiǎng yào yīgè xiāngcǎo bīngqílín.I want a vanilla ice cream.
- 香草冰淇淋很好吃。Xiāngcǎo bīngqílín hěn hǎochī.The vanilla ice cream is delicious.
- 你喜欢香草冰淇淋吗？Nǐ xǐhuān xiāngcǎo bīngqílín ma?Do you like vanilla ice cream?
Example conversation
At an ice cream shop.
- 梓涵 Zihan浩然，你想吃什么口味？Hàorán, nǐ xiǎng chī shénme kǒuwèi?Haoran, what flavor do you want to eat?
- 浩然 Haoran我喜欢吃香草冰淇淋。Wǒ xǐhuān chī xiāngcǎo bīngqílín.I like eating vanilla ice cream.
- 梓涵 Zihan那我也点一个。Nà wǒ yě diǎn yīgè.Then I will order one too.
- 浩然 Haoran太好了。Tài hǎo le.Great.
