Chinese & Korean Words

Asian loan words in English

by Ann-Marie Imbornoni

Amoy (eastern China)

• pekoe, a type of tea.
• tea, originally pronounced like "tay," can be traced to Dutch thee, from Malay and Amoy.

Cantonese (southern China, Hong Kong)

• bok choy, meaning "white vegetable."
• chop chop, means "hurried."
• chop suey, from a word meaning "miscellaneous bits."
• chow, related to chop in chop suey, from a word meaning "food, miscellany."
• chow chow, means "doggie."
• ketchup, from a word meaning "tomato sauce."
• kumquat, a small citrus fruit.
• typhoon, from the words for "great wind."
• wok, meaning "cauldron."
• yen, meaning a "yearning" or "strong desire."

Mandarin (Beijing, China; official national standard)

• gung ho, a motto used by the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society, from words meaning "work together." It was picked up by U.S. Marines during World War II.
• kow-tow, from words meaning "to knock [one's] head."
• kung fu, from gong fu, meaning "skill, art."

Korean

• tae kwon do, meaning "trample-fist-way."