I ntroduction to Chopsticks Chopsticks are a pair of sticks, usually made of wood, used for eating Asian food. In Chinese, the old word for "chopsticks,",and also in some varieties of modern Chinese such as Hokkien, was zhù (箸 Pinyin:zhù, Minnan: tī). However, using the word “zhù” became a taboo on ships because it sounded the same as another word meaning "to stop" (住). Consequently, it was replaced by a word of opposite meaning, kuài (fast, quick), which evolved into the current term, “kuàizi.” This gradually spread until it became the word for "chopsticks" in most varieties of modern Chinese. The character for this new meaning of "chopsticks" (筷) for kuài has the radical for bamboo added to the character meaning "fast" kuài (快). The English term, “chopsticks,” is supposedly derived from the Pidgin English spoken in British Chinese colonies. The Chinese term, “kuai-tzu,” or “quick ones” became chop (Pidgin for “quick”) sticks.