gung-ho

[ guhng-hoh ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

adjective

wholeheartedly enthusiastic and loyal; eager; zealous:
a gung-ho military outfit.

adverb

in a successful manner:
The business is going gung-ho.

gung ho

/ ɡʌŋ həʊ /

adjective

extremely enthusiastic and enterprising, sometimes to excess
extremely keen to participate in military combat

gung-ho

Extremely enthusiastic or zealous: “He was gung-ho about going on a vacation to the beach.”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of gung-ho¹

Introduced as a training slogan in 1942 by U.S. Marine officer Evans F. Carlson (1896–1947), from Chinese gōng hé, the abbreviated name of the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, taken by a literal translation as “work together”

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Word History and Origins

Origin of gung-ho¹

C20: pidgin English, from Mandarin Chinese kung work + ho together

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Idioms and Phrases

Also, gung-ho . Extremely enthusiastic or dedicated, as in She was gung ho about her new job . This expression was introduced in 1942 as a training slogan for a U.S. Marine battalion, derived from what an American officer thought were Mandarin Chinese words for “work together.” It was actually an abbreviation for the name of Chinese industrial cooperatives.

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

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