๐ฃ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ธ๐ผ is a very popular breakfast/snack item in Thailand. Itโs of Chinese origin, but here lies the Thai naming oddity, as the food item in question is actually Chinese yau char kwai (Cantonese: ๆฒน็ธ้ฌผ) or ๐๐ ๐๐ถ๐ฎ๐ผ (Mandarin: ๆฒนๆข), a deep-fried cruller.
The Thai word ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ธ๐ผ (Thai: เธเธฒเธเนเธญเธเนเธเน) actually came from Chinese word for another type of dessert: a steamed cake called ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ (Cantonese: ็ฝ็ณ็ณ).
Traditionally in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand, both yau char kwai (Cantonese: ๆฒน็ธ้ฌผ) and ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ (Cantonese: ็ฝ็ณ็ณ) are sold by the same itinerant Cantonese-Chinese street-food vendors.
However, in Thailand, the real ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ (Cantonese: ็ฝ็ณ็ณ) steamed cakes proved to be unpopular amongst the local Thais, and the hawkers stopped making those, but continued selling yau char kwai (Cantonese: ๆฒน็ธ้ฌผ).
However, by then, the local Thais had mis-took the name ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ (Cantonese: ็ฝ็ณ็ณ) as referring to the deep-fried crullers โ perhaps because the itinerant street-vendors in the old days would cry out โ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด ๐ธ๐ผ, yau char kwai!โ when they walked the streets selling their wares, and the Thai customers only remembered the first item name.
Anyway, that was how yau char kwai (Cantonese: ๆฒน็ธ้ฌผ) came to be known in Thai as ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ธ๐ผ (Thai: เธเธฒเธเนเธญเธเนเธเน).
