菜色

The classical sense — 'the greenish-yellow complexion of someone who eats only vegetables' — is recorded as far back as 《礼记·王制》 (Lǐjì · Wángzhì), which describes 菜色 (càisè) as the look of famine victims. In imperial-era texts 面有菜色 ('face wears the vegetable color') was shorthand for 'starving.' Confusingly, modern Taiwanese and Hong Kong usage extends the word to mean 'menu items' (the variety of dishes), purely from 菜 (cài) 'dish' + 色 (sè) 'kind/type' — a totally separate semantic path.

Context disambiguates: 面带菜色 (miàn dài càisè) = 'has a starved look,' tragic register. 菜色丰富 (càisè fēngfù) / 菜色齐全 = 'good menu variety,' restaurant register. Mainland Chinese leans on the classical sense; Taiwan and Hong Kong default to the menu sense.