Borrowed English Words from Chinese Quiz

Answer: Bump head

Traditionally, as a sign of respect to a person of superior social position to oneself, a person would get on their knees and bend their body until their head literally bumped or knocked the floor. This term seems to have taken life in the English language, but is used in an extremely derogatory manner. In traditional China it was a sign of utmost respect.

Answer: ping-pong

Ping pong is an onomatopoeic word in Chinese, meant to imitate the sound of the ball being hit back and forth. Like English, Chinese is loaded with onomatopoeias, for example 'beng' is the sound for something bursting and 'ca' is used for a screech.

Answer: True

The word for 'tea' in virtually every major language is originally derived from Chinese. In Mandarin, it is pronounced 'cha', while it is pronounced 'te' in the Fujianese dialect (from whence the word 'tea' came). The Dutch call it 'thee', the Germans 'tee', the French 'the' and the Spanish 'te.

The Russians call it 'chai', as do people in India, while the Iranians called it 'cha', the Arabs 'shay' and the Turks 'çay'. Even the various Asian languages share the term: Malay - teh, Vietnamese - cha and Japanese - cha (surprise, surprise!)

Answer: Gung-ho

Some Marine Lieutenant Colonel named Evans Carlson had a brilliant plan during World War II. He wanted to bring the same sort of enthusiasm and hard work he observed amongst the Chinese Communist troops, and transfer it to his marine battalion. Hence, he borrowed a portion of the title 'Zhongguo gong ye he zuo shi' (Chinese Industrial Cooperatives Society), namely the 'gong' (work) and the 'he' (together), and applied it to his troops.

It caught on with the Marine Corps and became a motto of sorts, and has infiltrated the English language nicely. Ironically, the two words together 'gonghe' don't mean anything in Chinese!

Answer: Japanese

The original Cantonese term is 'takiun', which means 'great prince'. The Japanese originally used the term for the Shogun, Tokugawa Iyesada, when Commodore Matthew Perry brought his menacing 'black ships' into Tokyo bay to negotiate. The Japanese wanted to be sure that Perry understood that the Shogun was the highest ranking leader, since 'Shogun' merely means 'general' and doesn't imply a position of regality, unlike 'tycoon'.

The term was brought back to the United States from Japan and eventually came to be used to describe very successful businessmen or industrialists.

Answer: Brainwashing

In Chinese, the word for brainwashing is 'xi nao' (literally: wash brain). The film 'Manchurian Candidate' probably locked the word into the English language, along with the stories of U.S. GIs who were captured during the war and made to repudiate the U.S. cause and extol the virtues of Communism.

Answer: Typhoon

The Mandarin Chinese word is 'tai feng', which means 'big wind'. Interestingly, this word arose independently (so far as etymologists understand it) in Greece as well, as tuphon. The two words were eventually amalgamated into the current 'typhoon'.

Answer: Martial arts

A trick question, I know...but it had to be done.

Answer: Wok

This is a relatively young word in the English language, only catching on in the 50s and 60s...but really catching fire after the show 'Wok with Yan' came on the air on PBS! If we had borrowed it from Mandarin, we'd all be saying 'guo'.

Answer: dim sum

'Dim sum', or 'dian xin', is a term for 'light refreshments' (or literally 'little hearts'), and includes steamed pork buns, chicken feet and fried dumplings. These are really wonderful little treats, and can most easily be found in the morning at your local Chinese restaurant.