word origin calendar

our word of the day brought to you by friends who sent me a 2019 word origin calendar for the holidays.  today's word is sriracha (otherwise known as the wonderfully addictive hot sauce in my pantry).

this hot pepper sauce, bright red and spicy, takes its name from the Thai city Si Racha, famed for its seafood.  the sauce was first developed as an accompaniment for shellfish.  the city's name, in turn, is taken from that of a sanskrit text honoring an ancient lord, or si; Thai lacks the "sr" consonantal union, which accounts for the alternate spelling.