THE 2016 BATTLE OF BASA/LEARN 35 LATEST-COINED ENGLISH WORDS

A GLIMPSE OF THE PAST

All over the world chefs and home cook have processed Basa into local dishes. The fish is embedded in pea puree and marinated in grilled lemon garlic. Bright roasted cherry tomatoes were scattered over the dish to make this type of river fish as delicious as the favorite in many countries. In Britain only this fish called river cobbler has been competing against the traditional British cod in about 11,000 fish-and-chop shops according to the New York Times. It was even stated by George Bush in the one-year provision that only the fish raised in the U.S could be sold as catfish. Ichthyologists have found that U.S. catfish and Vietnamese basa are virtually indistinguishable genetically. The pangasius or basa or tra in Vietnam has been recently taken off the list after WWF had been convinced that its production meets the stringent quality standards of the E.U., Australia, the U.S. and Japan. In India from Andhra there’s a fish called pungus, which has been retitled the Indian Basa.

CHEAP LABOR AND ROCK-BOTTOM PRICE

Both channel catfish and pangasius are cheap fish. Channel catfish were mostly eaten by low-income families in the American South while pangasius was feeding socialist workers in last-Communist economies. By the time these two cheap fish met in the United States, the Southeast Asia exporters had developed into the unexpected contenders. The battle has become so fierce at the rock-bottom price offered by Vietnamese dealers. Pangasius can be raised in much higher densities than North American channel catfish, and they grow faster in Vietnam’s winterless, tropical climate. Cheap Vietnamese labor — a fraction of the already low costs against the American South’s — has pushed pangasius sold for a dollar a pound less than channel catfish. There was also at the time of pangasius’s arrival no country-of-origin requirements in food labeling. Consumers couldn’t tell a pangasius from a channel catfish.

SURVIVE MORE ATTACKS

In the first five months of this year 2016 top 20 Vietnamese pangasius exporters got sales reach at US$ 433 million. Among them Hung Vuong group is the leader. After the European Union and the United States Hung Vuong corporation has focused on Russia as the third biggest market. Its exports in 2015 totaled $400 million. The entire catch from the lower  basin of the Mekong River was valued at about $17 billion. Vietnamese pangasius exports have fallen sharply in the past year. The whole pangasius farming area in the Mekong Delta, as planned, would be 5,300 to 5,400 hectares, yielding 1.25 to 1.3 million MT with export turnover to reach US$ 2 – 2.3 billion. In 2020, this area will be expanded to 7,600-7,800 hectares. The  USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) last year announced that it would become effective in March 2016, when the agency would conduct extensive outreach to domestic industry and international partner. Now it’s April 2016 that catfish formally move to the USDA after 7-year battle. Nevertheless, total monthly imports of frozen pangasius fillets into the U.S reached 27.1 million pounds in February. The figure is up over 3 million pounds from the same month last year, a 24.5 percent increase from 2014 and Vietnam is the sole pangasius exporter! Can Vietnamese pangasius survive more attacks by the U.S catfish producers!

LEARN 35 LATEST-COINED ENGLISH WORDS

1. Bling, bromance, chillax, crunk, D’oh

a. Excitedly energetic

b. Ostentatiously expensive clothing and jewelry

c. Calm down and relax

d. A close but non-sexual relationship between two men

e. Exclamation used to comment on one’s own foolish action

ANSWERS: 1. b 2. d 3. c 4. a 5. e

2. Droolworthy, frankenfood, guyliner, hater, illiterati

a. The eyeliner worn by men

b. Extremely attractive or desirable

c. Those who are not well educated or informed about a particular subject or activity

d. Genetically modified food

e. The person greatly disliking a specified person or thing

ANSWERS: 1. b 2. d 3. a 4. e 5. c

3. Infomania, jeggings, la-la land, locavore, mankini

a. A brief, T-back one-piece bathing garment for men

b. A fanciful state; also, Los Angeles

c. The compulsive desire to check news and information via mobile phone or computer

d. Tight-fitting stretch trousers for women, styled to resemble a pair of denim jeans.

e. A person whose diet mainly consists of locally grown or produced food.

ANSWERS: 1. c 2. d 3. b 4. e 5. a

4. Mini-me, muffin top, noob, obvs, muggle

a. The person inexperienced in a particular  internet-related activity

b. A person closely resembling another in smaller scale

c. Obviously

d. A person who is not conversant with a particular activity or skill

e. A roll of fat visible above the top of a pair of women’s tight-fitting low-waisted trousers

ANSWERS: 1. b 2. e 3. a 4. c 5. d

5. OMG, po-po, purple state, screenager, sexting

a. A person in their teens or twenties having an aptitude for computers and the Internet.

b. Used to express surprise, excitement, or disbelief

c. The police

d. The sending of sexually explicit photographs or messages via mobile phone.

e. A US state where the Democratic and Republican parties have similar voter’s support

ANSWERS: 1. b 2. c 3. e 4. a 5. d

6. Textspeak, totes, truthiness, twitterati, unfriend

a. Keen or frequent users of the social networking site Twitter

b. Totally

c. Language regarded as characteristic of text messages of abbreviations, acronyms, initials, emoticons

d. The quality of seeming or being felt to be true

e. Remove  from a list of friends or contacts on a social networking site

ANSWERS:  1. c 2. b 3. d 4. a 5. e

7. Upcycle, whatevs, whovian, woot, completionist

a. Express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph

b. Reuse discarded objects or material in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original

c. Whatever

d. A fan of the British science-fiction television series Doctor Who

e. The player who attempts to complete every challenge and earn every achievement or trophy in a video game

ANSWERS: 1. b 2. c 3. d 4. a 5. e