And today starts our Chinese week with the word: Gung-ho – enthusiastic, keen.
Originates from the kung (work) and ho (together), which was the name and slogan for the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives. It was introduced to English by Major Evans Carlson in 1942 who explained in a Time interview one year later: “I was trying to build up the same sort of working spirit I had seen in China where all the soldiers dedicated themselves to one idea and worked together to put that idea over.” The military success of Major Carlson at Makin Island in the Pacific was made into a blockbuster film in 1943. Named Gung-ho, the word quickly entered general American use.
Now used commonly to describe very zealous or enthusiastic behaviour, Gung- ho is also used colloquially to describe a can-do attitude.
