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Word file #003Here to stayEveryday English

What does gung ho mean?

工合gōnghé

Say itgung HOH/ˌɡʌŋ ˈhoʊ/adjective

Character by character
  1. 工gōngwork
  2. 合héjoin

Extremely eager or enthusiastic, often more than is wise.

Written by the Second Language TeamWritten

Someone who is gung ho is extremely eager, often a little too eager. Think of the new hire who volunteers for every project, or the friend who signs up for a marathon after one jog. You hear it at work, in sports and in military talk. British dictionaries also give a sense of being very keen to fight. The word entered English in 1942, when a U.S. Marine officer made it his battalion’s motto and said it was Chinese for “work together” [1]. That was not quite right. It was the short name of a group of Chinese industrial cooperatives [2].

English speakers say gung HOH. “Gung” rhymes with “lung,” and the stress falls on “ho.” You may also see it written gung-ho or gungho. The Chinese source is 工合 gōnghé, written the same way in simplified and traditional characters. 工 gōng has a high, flat tone and means “work.” 合 hé has a rising tone and means “join.” In Mandarin it sounds closer to “goong-huh” than to “gung-ho.” In English, gung ho is informal. It can be praise, but it often hints that someone is pushing too hard or not thinking first.

Word stats

Known in English
Most English speakers know it from work or sports talk. Very few know it has a Chinese source at all.
Said in China today
Chinese speakers don’t say 工合 to mean eager. It is only the short name of an organization, so most people never need it.
Polite
Not rude at all, just casual. Calling someone gung ho can be a gentle way of saying “calm down a little.”
Freshness
It is more than eighty years old and holding steady. About as many people look it up now as last year.

Spotted in the wild

Work chat · Monday, 9:40 am
  1. Priyathe new intern already sent me a 12-page plan for the team party
  2. Youit’s his first day
  3. Priyavery gung ho. i respect it. i’m also a little scared

What it means here: The intern is extremely eager; Priya likes it but thinks it is a bit much.

Group chat · Saturday, 8:05 pm
  1. Leowho’s in for a 6 am hike tomorrow
  2. Miawhy are you like this
  3. Leocome on, be gung ho for once
  4. Youi’m very gung ho about brunch. see you after

What it means here: Gung ho means keen and full of energy; Leo wants his friends to be excited about the early hike.

Text with a friend who is learning Chinese
  1. Hanafun fact from class: gung ho comes from 工合
  2. Youso it means “go team” in chinese?
  3. Hananope. it was the short name of some cooperatives from the 1930s. my teacher says nobody uses it to mean eager
  4. Youmy whole vocabulary is a lie

What it means here: Hana quotes 工合 (gōnghé, “work” + “join”), the short name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives; in Chinese it has no meaning of “eager.”

How to use it

  • be gung ho about somethingShe’s really gung ho about the new recycling plan.
  • a gung ho [person]We hired a gung ho young engineer who fixes bugs before breakfast.
  • too / a little gung hoDon’t get too gung ho on the first lap, or you won’t finish the race.
  • go all gung hoMy dad went all gung ho on the garden this spring.
  • a gung ho attitude / approachHis gung ho approach won the client but worried the lawyers.

Don’t say it like this

  • Sounds off(to a Chinese-speaking teammate) “工合! Let’s finish this project.”

    Say this“加油! Let’s finish this project.”

    工合 is only the short name of an organization, so it will not sound like a cheer. 加油 jiāyóu is the everyday Chinese way to say “go for it.”

  • Sounds offGung ho means working together as a team.

    Say thisGung ho means very eager, sometimes too eager.

    “Work together” was the explanation Carlson gave in 1942, and it was not correct Chinese. Today’s English meaning is about enthusiasm, not teamwork.

  • Sounds off(in a formal reference letter) “She is extremely gung ho.”

    Say this“She is extremely enthusiastic and dedicated.”

    Gung ho is informal, and it can hint that someone rushes in without thinking. That is not what you want in a reference letter.

gung ho or not?

Is each of these gung ho? Pick an answer to find out.

  1. A new coworker volunteers for every project in their first week and sends plans at midnight.

  2. Your friend shrugs and says “whatever, I don’t mind” when you plan a trip.

  3. A young soldier in a film can’t wait to rush into the fight.

  4. Two quiet coworkers calmly split a task in half and finish on time.

The gung ho family

  • 工合 gōnghéThe short name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, the source of gung ho.In Chinese it never meant eager. It just wanted to run some factories.
  • 加油 jiāyóu“Add oil”: the everyday Chinese cheer for “go for it” or “you can do it.”If you want to sound gung ho in Chinese, this is the word you actually need.
  • overzealousToo eager, in a way that causes problems.Gung ho with the fun taken out and a complaint letter attached.

Where it came from

  1. 5 August 1938The Chinese Industrial Cooperatives are formally founded in Hankou, now part of Wuhan. Founders include Rewi Alley, Edgar Snow and Helen Foster Snow, Hu Yuzhi and Xu Xinliu. The group’s short name is 工合 gōnghé [3].
  2. 1942U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson is organizing the 2nd Raider Battalion in California. He makes “gung ho” its motto and tells his men it is Chinese for “work together” [1][2].
  3. 1942Merriam-Webster gives this year as the first known use of gung ho as an English adjective [1].
  4. TodayGung ho means very eager, often too eager. The teamwork idea behind Carlson’s motto is mostly forgotten.

Gung ho in English vs. 工合 in Chinese

In English, gung ho is an everyday word about attitude. In Chinese, 工合 is not a word about attitude at all. It is a name.

PointEnglish gung hoChinese 工合
What it isAn everyday adjectiveA short name (an abbreviation)
MeaningVery eager, sometimes too eagerThe Chinese Industrial Cooperatives
FeelingPraise, or gentle criticismNeutral; it is just a name
Where you meet itWork, sports, military talkHistories of the war years, and the organization itself

The full name is 中国工业合作协会 Zhōngguó Gōngyè Hézuò Xiéhuì (traditional 中國工業合作協會), the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives Association. The short name takes 工 from 工业 gōngyè, “industry,” and 合 from 合作 hézuò, “cooperate.” The group was formally founded in Hankou on 5 August 1938. Its aim was to organize unemployed workers into small factories that made goods to support the war against Japan [3]. Leaders from the Nationalist Party, the Communist Party and other public figures all took part in running it [3].

So where did “work together” come from? Evans F. Carlson, the Marine officer who brought the word to English, believed the two syllables were Mandarin for “work together” [2]. Merriam-Webster explains that gōng does mean “work” and hé does mean “join,” but in Chinese the two cannot be put together to mean “work together” [1]. In English, the meaning then moved from teamwork to enthusiasm.

So if you say 工合 to a Chinese speaker, they will most likely think of the organization, if they recognize it at all. They will not hear “eager.” To cheer someone on, Chinese speakers say 加油 jiāyóu, which means “add oil.” It is the opposite of gung ho’s story: a phrase that sounds odd in English but is used everywhere in Chinese.

Sources

  1. Gung ho Definition & MeaningMerriam-Webster
  2. GUNG-HO Definition & MeaningDictionary.com
  3. 中国工业合作协会中国供销合作网 (chinacoop.gov.cn), 30 August 2008

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