Learn English – Why say ‘chai tea’

word-usage

The Hindi word for tea (the drink) is chai. In India, this is the primary kind of tea (also, Hindi isn’t spoken throughout India); so, IndE speakers say “I’ll have some tea” rather than “I'll have some chai”.

The drink has become popular in the West, and is referred to as chai to disambiguate it from tea prepared any other way.

However, I’ve been hearing the phrase chai tea increasingly often. Isn’t it redundant? To me, it’s like saying cappuccino coffee.

This ngram shows that it’s a recent phrase, and is growing in usage.

Hence my question: is it correct to say chai tea in BrE/AmE, or should we simply say chai?

EDIT: I don't want the answer to be opinion-based. I'm looking for a source which explains why this usage is right or wrong.

Best Answer

It's a pleonasm to me, an InE speaker.

Other phrases that seem redundant because the foreign word means the same thing as the English word:

•Gobi desert (Gobi means "desert" in Mongolian.)

•Naan bread (Naan is a type of bread in many countries.)

Chai means "tea" in Hindi, so when we order "chai tea," we're asking for "tea tea," at least that's what it sounds like to someone from India

To non InE speakers, "chai" in chai-tea is a kind of spice rather than the tea.

In America the phrase chai tea has come to mean the particular kind of tea made in the Indian style. (What Americans call chai tea would be more accurately called masala chai ― masala is the mix of spices used to flavor the chai.)

Ref- Is "Chai Tea" Redundant?

Related Topic