Leo's Blog
  • Home
  • About
  • Shorts
  • Reviews
Sign in Subscribe
Shorts

Gung Who?

A phrase with an unlikely origin story.

Leo Dong

Leo Dong

23 Aug 2025
Gung Who?
Photo by Joel Rivera-Camacho / Unsplash

The Americanism "gung ho" depicts an enthusiastic mindset, bordering on the reckless. It seems so ingrained in US culture, but it's surprisingly just a poorly pronounced Chinese phrase gōnghé,[1] meaning "work together", introduced to a US Marine Corps Major by a Kiwi communist.[2]


  1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gung_ho. ↩︎

  2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rewi_Alley. ↩︎

Read more

Drawing the IRA of the Allies

Drawing the IRA of the Allies

The Irish Republican Army's long-term struggle against British oppressors resulted in making some rather unsavoury friends in WWII.

13 Sep 2025
Pretty Vanilla Fact

Pretty Vanilla Fact

One young boy's discovery almost two hundred years ago is still used today.

06 Sep 2025
So Napoleonely

So Napoleonely

Another man who conquered Europe after failing at his artistic endeavours.

30 Aug 2025
A Brazilian bucks

A Brazilian bucks

Brazil loves debt.

16 Aug 2025
Leo's Blog
  • Contribute →
  • Contact
  • Data & privacy
  • Author
Powered by Ghost

Leo's Blog

Some facts, reviews and opinions from around the world.