siew dai

Meaning

Adjective

• less sweet, describing one’s preference for sweetness when ordering coffee or tea.

Origin

• From Chinese, though ultimate source language unascertained. Apparently , literally "less base", from + , referring to the condensed milk, used for sweetening, that sits at the bottom of the cup. In Cantonese this would be pronounced siu2 dai2, but the compound has not been traced in Cantonese.