But who is General Tso?

I am definitely getting The Eater's Guide to Chinese Characters before the next time I go exploring Buford Highway. It's like a phrase book that allows you to order from the untranslated menu (you know, the one with all the really authentic dishes they only give to Chinese customers).

McCawley was a University of Chicago linguistics professor, but apparently he had a pretty well-developed and punny sense of humor. He published some higly regarded scholarly papers under the name of Quong Phuc Dong from the South Hanoi Institute of Technology (get it?).