"gung ho" meaning in English

See gung ho in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Adjective

IPA: /ˌɡʌŋˈhəʊ/ [Received-Pronunciation], /ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/ [General-American] Audio: En-us-gung ho.oga Forms: more gung ho [comparative], most gung ho [superlative]
Rhymes: -əʊ Etymology: From a catachresis of Mandarin 工合 (gōnghé), an acronym for 工業合作社/工业合作社 (gōngyè hézuòshè, “[Chinese] Industrial Cooperative Society”), as 工 (gōng, “work”) + 合 (“together”), literally “to work together”. The interpretation "work together" was created by U.S. Marine Evans Carlson, who was posted in China during the 1930s. It became the motto and nickname of the enthusiastic battalion Carlson commanded, leading to other marines adopting the term to mean "overly enthusiastic". It was popularized in the United States by the 1943 war film Gung Ho!, which profiled the battalion's leadership of the Raid on Makin Island during World War II. Etymology templates: {{der|en|cmn|工合}} Mandarin 工合 (gōnghé), {{com|cmn|工|合|lit=to work together|nocat=1|t1=work|t2=together}} 工 (gōng, “work”) + 合 (“together”), literally “to work together” Head templates: {{en-adj}} gung ho (comparative more gung ho, superlative most gung ho)
  1. (informal, often derogatory) Overly enthusiastic or energetic. Tags: derogatory, informal, often Translations (overly enthusiastic or energetic): overivrig (Danish), begejstret (Danish), overijverig (Dutch), übereifrig (German), overivrig (Norwegian Bokmål), exageradamente entusiasmado (Spanish), pum para arriba [Argentina, slang] (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-gung_ho-en-adj-j2V2DXv~ Disambiguation of 'overly enthusiastic or energetic': 97 3
  2. (informal, derogatory, military) Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules. Tags: derogatory, informal Categories (topical): Military
    Sense id: en-gung_ho-en-adj-sOI18uBo Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Danish translations, Terms with Dutch translations, Terms with German translations, Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations, Terms with Spanish translations Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 16 84 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 5 95 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 9 91 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 97 Disambiguation of Terms with Danish translations: 7 93 Disambiguation of Terms with Dutch translations: 4 96 Disambiguation of Terms with German translations: 9 91 Disambiguation of Terms with Norwegian Bokmål translations: 14 86 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 2 98 Topics: government, military, politics, war
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: gungho, gung-ho

Alternative forms

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          "_dis1": "97 3",
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          "word": "overivrig"
        },
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          "_dis1": "97 3",
          "code": "da",
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          "word": "begejstret"
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          "word": "overijverig"
        },
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          "word": "übereifrig"
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        "(informal, derogatory, military) Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules."
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      "ipa": "/ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/",
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      "word": "gungho"
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      "_dis1": "38 62",
      "word": "gung-ho"
    }
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    "Gung ho",
    "Raid on Makin Island"
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        "(informal, derogatory, military) Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules."
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    {
      "word": "gungho"
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "overivrig"
    },
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "begejstret"
    },
    {
      "code": "nl",
      "lang": "Dutch",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "overijverig"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "übereifrig"
    },
    {
      "code": "nb",
      "lang": "Norwegian Bokmål",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "overivrig"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
      "word": "exageradamente entusiasmado"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "overly enthusiastic or energetic",
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        "slang"
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      "word": "pum para arriba"
    }
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    "Evans Carlson",
    "Gung ho",
    "Raid on Makin Island"
  ],
  "word": "gung ho"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-11-21 using wiktextract (65a6e81 and 0dbea76). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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