Gcpnews.com recently posted an article about Chinese words "stolen" by the English language. The interesting fact though is that some of these words don’t actually have their origins in the Chinese language at all, like "casino" which has its roots in Italy, for example. Therefore, take this edited translation with a pinch of salt and you may want to double check the facts before trying to boast your newly acquired facts at the dinner table.

English belongs to the Indo-European language system and includes Indian, Brazilian and European languages. Nowadays, many English words are "taken" from the African, Indian and European language system. In the narrow sense, these words in the English language are foreign. These white skinned, yellow-hearted "egg words" don’t have to be further explained in the "English world" as they are easily understood and smoothly used in communication. Since a long time, words born out of Chinese have been silently influencing the world. Apart from Chinese words and titles such as "Confucius" (孔夫子), "kungfu" (中国功夫), "mahjong" (麻将) or "tofu" (豆腐), below are ten other words that represent the essence of China and that in a similar manner have been "borrowed" by the English language and consequently influence modern life around the world.

1) Silk (丝绸)
China is a major silk-worm breeding country and the home of silk. Since the beginning, ancient China’s porcelain and silk have always been a top-secret skill and special commodity in foreign trade. Right before the Opium War, England was importing pianos from Guangzhou and couldn’t outdo the splendor of Chinese silk. The pronunciation of the world "silk" clearly comes from Chinese transliteration. The word represented China’s superior technical skill and mighty trade. Even if this time has passed, Chinese silk is still considered a symbol of wealth and elegance.

2) Tea (茶)
This word was also stolen from the hard-to-pronounce language south of Fujian Province. Tea, silk and porcelain stand shoulder to shoulder in terms of great products that ancient China traded with the rest of the world. Nowadays, tea represents a type of lifestyle and cultural quality. Most Chinese people can find their thoughts about life amidst the curling steam of tea. According to the introduction of Xiao Qian’s Tea is in England, "Tea was seemingly first brought to Europe at the start of the 17th century by Portugal. English tea was originally brought in from Xiamen through the East India Company. During the 1640s, the English started planting tea during their colonization of India. It was probably during this time that they began to nurture a habit for adding sugar to tea." It is said despite the difficult times of the Second World War, the French rationed coffee, while the English wanted tea and a bit of sugar. Tea became the backbone for Europeans, who followed its smell like in a stupor. This isn’t a native legend, but the conquest and nationalization of a foreign land.

3) Shangrila (Xanadu) (世外桃源)
Shangrila and Xanadu are close in meaning. Both mean "ideal world." "Shangrila" comes from a legendary place in Tibet – "Xiangge Lila (香格里拉)". "Xanadu" comes from Mongolia. People often use the word "Xandadu" to describe an ideal place.

4) Fengshui (风水)
Fengshui brought together the collective wisdom of living people’s residences with the graves of the dead. Even though some people argue under the banner of science, that fengshui is nothing more than feudal superstition, science itself can be called complacent and conservative; itself a type of superstition. The overall principle of Fengshui is to "bring benefit and avoid harm", which is also the basic credo of survival. In recent years, fengshui has been very popular in America and likewise has become a popular field of knowledge to study .

5) Dimsum (茶点)
As soon as you hear the pronunciation of this word, you know it originates from the Cantonese speaking area. English people have the habit of drinking afternoon tea, often accompanied by something sweet. Though they used to always refer to such sweet accompaniments as "cake" or "biscuits", this Chinese word "dimsum" is being used more and more. This makes sense since China is the birthplace of tea in the first place.

6) Running dog (走狗)
This "Chinglish" word is most often used by Chinese and English people, and has become a prevalent word in the English world. The English translation of it first appeared in 1937 and is derived from the eagerness with which a dog will respond to its owner’s call. In English, the meaning of the word is similar to "lackey", "jackal" or "stooge."

7) Paper tiger (纸老虎)
This is a new word that is hard to forget. It is believed that the founder of it was none other that the great hero of the folk, Mao Zedong (though there have been records of it from as early back as 1836). Either way, it was Mao that made the word popular again. "Paper tiger" refers to something that looks threatening, but is in fact harmless.

8) Tycoon (大款、巨亨)
This word has mainly become popular in the last few years and refers to a rich and powerful businessperson or entrepreneur. The traditional Chinese version of this word is called "big shopkeeper" (大掌柜). The actual pronunciation of word however comes from the Japanese word "taikun", who borrowed the title meaning "great prince" from Chinese.

9) Casino (赌场)
The pronunciation "asino" comes from the Fujian dialect, but why would the English language associate the word with gambling? According to legend, a long time ago migrant workers from Fujian in America received a meager wage, so when they were bored they would try their luck and gamble it. Every time before they would start, someone would shout "Start, start!" (开始了，开始了). Who would have thought that under such strange circumstances a new English word would be born.

10) Cumshaw (小费，赏钱)
This word comes from the south Fujian dialect and means "thanks". It was an expression of thanks often associated with money.

Source: gcpnews.com
 

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