How Chinese words end up in English
Some words were borrowed with their sound, like kowtow from 叩头 (kòutóu). Others were translated piece by piece, like paper tiger from 纸老虎 (zhǐ lǎohǔ, paper old-tiger). Newer ones, like gege and danmei, travel through fan communities online.
Each file shows the characters with their pinyin and what each character means, so the English word becomes a small Chinese lesson too.
How to read the trend labels
We check how often people look up each word, and mark the ones that are growing, holding steady, or cooling off.
- Rising: more people look it up every year.
- Here to stay: about as popular as last year.
- Cooling off: fewer people look it up, but it is still common.