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I can try to shine a light on this idiom. Masala is a popular indian dish here in the US... so popular in fact that it is expected at any indian restaurant. B

I can try to shine a light on this idiom. Masala is a popular indian dish here in the US... so popular in fact that it is expected at any indian restaurant. Because of this, the term can be synonomous with 'run of the mill', 'standard', or even 'safe'.

setr 10y ago
>Masala is a popular indian dish here in the US... Huh? Masala just means the dish uses a bunch of spices (ie masala chai is just tea with cardamom, maybe pepper and cinnamon and other things depending on whose making). I'm pretty sure regarding film its used to say a "standard movie" or even "boring", thats been "spiced" to taste better, with spices being a set of tropes that most people like.
- prebrov 10y ago
  Haha, such an appropriate comment thread in a post about linguistics!
- samstave 10y ago
  I prefer Alien Tikka Masala myself, with a side of xenophobiNaan.
devdas 10y ago
Masala is a mixture of spices, or the liquid portion of the stew a dish is cooked in. In this context, it would mean spiced up, or exaggerated for entertainment reasons.