Gung

/ɡʌŋ/ adjective

Definition

Used in 'gung-ho,' meaning very eager, enthusiastic, or overly aggressive about something.

Etymology

From Chinese 'gōnghéyǔ' (工合語), meaning 'work together speech,' borrowed into English during World War II as a Chinese military term. It became 'gung-ho' in American slang for zealous enthusiasm.

Kelly Says

Gung-ho was a Chinese military slogan that American soldiers heard in WWII and turned into slang—it's one of the few times an anti-imperialist phrase got adopted by Western soldiers to describe their own eagerness, flipping the meaning!

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