Last week I was teaching a lesson and used the word gung-ho. I tried to explain to my students what it meant and they wanted to know where it came from, so here is the explanation.

Gung-ho - extremely enthusiastic and dedicated

Our Living Language Most of us are not aware of it today, but the word gung ho has been in English only since 1942 and is one of the many words that entered the language as a result of World War II. It comes from Mandarin Chinese gōnghé, “to work together,” which was used as a motto by the Chinese Industrial Cooperative Society. Lieutenant Colonel Evans F. Carlson (1896–1947) borrowed the motto as a moniker for meetings in which problems were discussed and worked out; the motto caught on among his Marines (the famous “Carlson's Raiders”), who began calling themselves the “Gung Ho Battalion.” From there eager individuals began to be referred to as gung ho. 

This was also the name of comedy starring Michael Keaton in which the clash of cultures between America and China lead to many comical situations and misunderstandings.