Eastern influences

10 Asian words that are part of our daily vocabulary

English vocabulary is riddled with words borrowed from other languages, but we often think about those that come from French, Spanish, or other Romance languages, though we are aware of the influence of Germanic and Nordic languages. But how often do we think about the influence of Asian languages in our everyday words? Asian influence might not be as pervasive as that of some European languages, but it’s much more present than you would think. Here are 10 Asian words that everyone has used at least once.

Several different languages —such as Arabic, Persian, or Greek— have used words with the same roots as ‘typhoon’ to describe strong winds or storms, but the term adopted into English is of Chinese origin.

During the 16th century, Portuguese sailors traveling across China adopted the Mandarin táifēng (in Cantonese, daaihfùng), meaning ‘big wind’, to describe severe storms. They spelled it as tufão, although English adopted it as touffon. Down the line, Greek influences affected the spelling, rendering our modern ‘typhoon’.

Most people know that tofu is an ingredient of Asian origin, but have you ever wondered what this word means? Although English borrowed it from Japanese, its origins are rooted in China.

The Japanese tōfu is a phonetic copy of the Chinese dòufu, a combination of dòu (‘bean’) and fǔ (‘curdled’ or ‘fermented’). However, the Chinese character for fǔ is also related to the character for ‘meat’ or ‘flesh’, and some linguists interpret that its use in ‘tofu’ is also a reference to tofu’s texture.

If we tried the original ketchup, we might not find many similarities with the ketchup we know. Originating from the Fujian region of China, kê-chiap or kôe-chiap was used for a pickled fish brine, but neighboring regions adopted the term to refer to savory dark sauces in general.

English and Dutch merchants picked up the term in Malaysia as kicap or kecap, but spelled it such as catchup, catsup, or ketchup. Initial English recipes relied on mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters to replicate the umami flavor of the original ketchup, but it was the addition of tomato in the 19th century that shifted the term ketchup to its current meaning.

A fairly new word, the term emoji was coined in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita, the creator of the first telephone emojis. The word is a combination of e (‘picture’) and moji (‘character’ or ‘letter’); this last term is related to words like kanji, the Chinese ideograms used in Japanese writing,

Despite what many people think, emoji is not related to the term ‘emoticon’, a portmanteau of ‘emotion’ + ‘icon’. The fact that emojis and emoticons have phonetic similarities and are used for the same purpose is just a coincidence.

We might not use the word ‘tycoon’ daily, but you might have heard it in reference to wealthy and influential businessmen or politicians. Although it can now carry a slightly negative connotation, it was not negative in its origin. In Japanese, taikun (meaning ‘great lord’) was a title given to the shogun, the Japanese military leader, often more powerful than the Emperor.

When Japan opened to foreign trade in the 19th century, the word was adopted by English-speaking diplomats to refer to the shogun and, later, to other powerful politicians. It was not until the early 20th century that its meaning shifted from politics and came to be used for wealthy and highly influential people.

The term ‘ginger’ comes from an Old French word, but this doesn’t mean its origins are not rooted in Asia. We can find them in the Sanskrit śṛṅgavera, meaning ‘horned shaped’, a description of the antler-like shape of the ginger root.

How did śṛṅgavera become ‘ginger’? It first evolved into siṅgabera, a term adopted into Greek as zingiberis and into Medieval Latin as gingiber. Gingiber became the Old French gingibre, from where Old English got gingifer, later shortened to ‘ginger’.

You might associate ‘curry’ with a specific spice mix, typically used for a dish also named curry. This is not wrong, but is also not exactly right. In the Tamil language, kaṟi means ‘sauce’, ‘relish’, or any spiced meat and vegetables that were eaten with rice.

The word was adopted as ‘curry’ by English and as ‘caril’ by Portuguese traders, who used it as an umbrella term for any Indian spiced stew. By association, they also used the term for a mix of spices, called masala (‘mixture’, ‘blend’) in Indian cuisine. This way, hundreds of dishes and several masalas were grouped under the name ‘curry’.

In Western mentality, the term ‘zen’ is associated with Eastern spiritual practices, or at least with meditation and balance, but its story and meaning are much more complex. ‘Zen’ is a transliteration of the Japanese zen, which in turn comes from the Chinese chán or chánnà, meaning ‘meditation’.

But the roots of zen go deeper. Chánnà is not an original Chinese word, but the phonetic transliteration of the Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning ‘meditation’, ‘contemplation’, or a ‘state of meditative absorption’, a term that originated in ancient India and then travelled to China and Japan as part of Buddhist spirituality.

Neither ‘brain’ nor ‘to wash’ are words of Chinese origin, so how can ‘brainwashing’ be a Chinese term? It is because ‘brainwashing’ is a calque, meaning a word-for-word translation, of the Chinese xǐnǎo, which means ‘to wash the brain’.

The term xǐnǎo became popular in Chinese to describe political re-education policies used by the Chinese Communist Party. How did it enter the English vocabulary? It was translated and adopted by American journalist Edward Hunter to explain the actions of some American prisoners during the Korean War, claiming that they had been ‘brainwashed’ into adopting their captors’ ideologies or into making false statements.

Most Americans will understand ‘chop chop’ as slang for ‘hurry up’, but did you know that it comes from Chinese? The phrase comes from 19th-century Guangzhou (also known as Canton), where English and Cantonese had mixed to form a pidgin or contact language between two distinct languages.

Chinese language often reduplicates words for emphasis; in this case, the word sù, meaning ‘fast’, is reduplicated to make sù sù, ‘hurry up’. American and British sailors heard this phrase in the Guangzhou ports, and adopted it as the pidgin ‘chop chop’.

MUCH HULLABALOO ABOUT ZILCH

10 Of The Wackiest English Words That Are Totally Not Made Up

Image: Will Myers

There are thousands of words that somehow made it to the dictionary but that we rarely use today. While many were completely forgotten, some occasionally enjoy sudden bursts of popularity, and some are still used in a few English-speaking regions. From the frankly bizarre to the actually useful to remember, there is something for everyone. To keep you bumfuzzled and, of course, to help keep these wonderful words alive, we made this list of the strangest ones we could find!

Image: Alexis Mora Angulo

To be bumfuzzled is to be in a state of bewilderment. If this article leaves you perplexed, then you are truly bumfuzzled! Its origins are not known for sure. It might have obscure Scottish roots, that stem from a mix of bamboozle and fuzzle, or have evolved as an alteration of the word dumbfound.

Image: Konstantin Evdokimov

Gubbins are bits and pieces of something, scraps, or general gadgetry. You probably bring all your gubbins when you are trying to fix a leak under the sink. It can also refer to someone foolish or gullible, a simpleton.

Image: Ksenia

In the English Midlands dialect, a pebble or any small rounded stone. Sounds kinda similar, doesn’t it? Among geologists, it has more specificity: it is still a rock, but one with a diameter of ⅛ to 2 and ½ inches. In Australia, it can refer to a troublesome person or animal—so don’t be a bibble, mate, yeah?

Image: Pablo Heimplatz

A big racket or commotion over something. Might have originated in Northern England, likely as a rhyming duplication of the word hello.

All that hullabaloo for a bibble? It left me bumfuzzled.

Image: Esther Tuttle

To lollygag is to fool around, or to spend time aimlessly. You can lollygag with a friend, or even at work—although we do not advise it!

According to etymologists, lollygag originates in American English, likely from the dialectal words lolly (tongue) and gag (trick).

Image: Guillermo Diaz

Counterclockwise, or in a direction opposite to the sun’s course. In old Scottish, this was considered unlucky. The related Middle Low German word weddersinnes, literally means "against the way."

Image: Heidi Kaden

If you live in the Southern United States, and see something that is askew or in disarray, you can use this delightful adjective without fear. Hailing from 19th-century America, there is an ongoing debate regarding the formation of this particular word.

Image: Markus Spiske

Gibberish, nonsense, or a speech or piece of writing that is made unintelligible by excessive use of pompous or over-complicated language. Economists and government officials are often very proficient in this kind of speech. It was coined by a Texas politician who famously threatened to use violence on anyone who used gobbledygook in official bulletins and memos.

Image: Abbie Bernet

Go tell Elmer Fudd it’s not wabbit season. Actually, wabbit is a real word that means to be weary or exhausted. We really hope you don’t feel this way about this article! In any case, it’s almost over.

Image: Julian Hochgesang

Literally zero, nothing. It can also be used to refer to someone insignificant, as in "a Joe Zilch." It’s not clear where this word comes from, but it might have originated with Mr. Zilch, a 1931 comic character who appeared in the popular humor magazine Ballyhoo.