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Gung ho

Gung ho

VARIANT FORMS: gung-ho

MEANING: Adj. Slang. Extremely or overly enthusiastic and dedicated.

ETYMOLOGY: Motto of certain U.S. Marine forces in Asia during World War II. The original Mandarin Chinese phrase is Gōnghé (工合), a standard abbreviation for gōngyè hézuòshè (工業合作社), meaning industrial worker’s cooperative. The phrase entered the American vernacular when it was picked up by then-Major Evans F. Carlson, USMC. According to Carlson, it was used as a slogan by the WW2-era Communist Party of China’s 8th Route Army, led by Zhu De (朱德).

History: 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.

Examples:

“Bobby is really gung ho on his plan to start his own company.”

“Barron’s interviews investing guru Jim Rogers, who’s gung-ho on China.”

“Some of the crew members are gung-ho about the US presence in Iraq in particular and the Middle East in general; others express serious doubts.”

“We need to avoid being ‘Gung Ho’ at these times. There are many problems ahead.”

“I’m not gung ho on that stock.”

Note that gung ho is usually used with the prepositions on and about.

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Shit Slang & Idioms

The word “shit” is vulgar, but there are many common idioms that use this word. You shouldn’t use this word in a professional setting, but you will hear these phrases listed below all of the time.

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Jumped the Shark

“With the Fed having jumped the shark it’s beyond doubt we’ll be seeing inflation over the next several years.”

“Last year, this column, after consulting its readers, declared that Nicole Kidman had jumped the shark, based on a string of embarrassments that displayed chronic bad taste in scripts.”

“eBay remains an efficient Web-based auctioneer, and its PayPal platform is a winner, but otherwise, the company jumped the shark years ago.”

“Is it a sign that social networking has ‘jumped the shark,’ when a coffee company launches a social networking site?”

“And I know that a lot of folks think the magazine jumped the shark around 2000, but every month since 2002 I prided myself on the stories that I was turning into my editors.”

These are just a few usage examples of the phrase “jumped the shark” in today’s news. Jumped the shark is a relatively new slang phrase that first appeared in the late 1990’s, but it has already become a very common phrase used in all segments of the American media (politics, finance, entertainment, etc.). In order to understand this phrase, you need to understand where it comes from.

In the 1970s there was a very popular TV show in the US called “Happy Days.” At the peak of the show’s popularity, one of the main characters performed a water skiing stunt in which he jumped over a shark. The popularity of the show declined after this episode. Looking back at the decline of the show, critics claimed that the moment when the lead character “jumped the shark” was the moment the show began to decline. The idea of jumping a shark was absurd and stupid to most people and many fans of the show saw this idea as a sign that the writers of the show were out of good ideas. For a complete history of this phrase, check Wikipedia.

Here is the actual scene that this phrase originated from:

This is considered one of the worst/most ridiculous moments in television history.

So what does it mean to say that something has jumped the shark, then?

When referring to TV series, jumping the shark refers to the point at which the characters or plot of the series veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Such a show is typically deemed to have passed its peak. Once a show has “jumped the shark” fans sense a noticeable decline in quality or feel the show has undergone too many changes to retain its original charm.

In a more general sense, something that has “jumped the shark” has passed its peak — in other words, it has just started to go out of fashion after a period of extreme popularity, usually by doing something ridiculous. Another way to put it: something was new and cool, but now it is just old and stupid.

This phrase has become very common over the past ten years: I hear it or read it at least once per week. It was originally applied only to TV series, but is now applied in a general sense to people, newspapers, companies, stocks, etc.

Update: Just to illustrate how common this phrase has become, I just happened to read this today:

“And perhaps more than anything the fact that in the last week or so the Clinton campaign has just descended into something like an all-night shark hop.”

This is a variation on “jumped the shark.”

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Slang and Listening Comprehension

Phrases to remember:

- go on and on (about something)

- hello?!?

- move on

- get over it

- anyway

- not to mention

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Common American Slang

Learn all 280 of these slang expressions. All of them are very common.

Note: Never say “slangs.” You can’t add an ‘s‘ to slang.

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Fix

The word “fix” has many different meanings. Here are the most common idioms and slang involving the word “fix.”

be in a fix - to be in a difficult situation. More examples

“I’m in a fix. I lost my wallet and my car keys.”
“If you quit now, you’ll put me in a real fix.”

to fix someone up with someone - to arrange a date for someone.

“I fixed him up with Jill, but they didn’t like each other.”
“Don’t fix me up with any of your friends ever again.”

to fix someone - to punish, get revenge.

“I’ll fix you for that.”
“I’ll fix him real good.”

to fix (an animal) - to remove the uterus or testicles of a pet animal (dog, cat, etc.) so it can’t breed.

“We got our dog fixed last week.”
“You should get your cat fixed before she gets pregnant.”

fixing to - preparing to, getting ready to, planning to. (this is more common in the South of the US and rural areas)

“There is a movie I’m fixing to shoot down in Louisiana called ‘Prince of Pistols.’”
“I’m fixing to make myself a steak dinner.”

a fix - n. slang - a dose of a drug or narcotic.

“The drug addict needed a fix so badly that he was shaking.”

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In Your Face

“He had an aggressive, in-your-face style.”

“After dunking the basketball, Yao Ming shouted, ‘In your face, Jack!’”

“After Tom accidentally bumped into Fred, Fred got mad and got in his face.”

“Hey, don’t get in my face.”

“Hey, get out of my face, asshole.”

In your face is a slang phrase that originated in the world of basketball in the 1970s.  You can see from the picture above that the guy in the red shirt is “getting in the face” of the other guy. In this sense, to “get in someone’s face” is to be aggressive or confrontational with someone.

As an adjective, in-your-face means “defiantly confrontational; bold; aggressive.”

In the Yao Ming example above, in your face! is being used as an exclamation of contempt.  This is a milder version of “fuck you!” It is not as extreme as saying, “fuck you,” though.

I suggest you look at some examples of how this phrase is used in the news.

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Jack

“You don’t know jack.” (you don’t know anything. you know nothing.)

“You don’t know jack about China.” (you don’t know anything about China.)

“Are you jacking with me?” (are you trying to fool me/make fun of me/mock me?)

“Don’t jack me around.” (don’t try to fool me/make fun of me/mock me.)

“Listen, Jack, you better get the hell out of here!” (in this case, “Jack” is used as a generic term for a man, like “pal” or “buddy.”)

“I used to love that restaurant, but then they jacked up their prices.” (they raised their prices very high.)

“I’m jacked up on caffeine and donuts right now.” (I’m intoxicated/high on caffeine and donuts right now…as if I’m on drugs.)

The word “jack” has many meanings. Of course, it is a common first name. But as you can see above it is also used as slang in a variety of ways. All of these are common.

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Slang Video

You probably know most of this already, but I still think you can get something out of it.

Phrases to remember:

- You crack me up. (you make me laugh)

- You are a riot. (you are hilarious)

- Will you stop flipping through channels and pick something! (this is also known as “channel surfing” — when you just keep changing TV channels)

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Drug Slang

Listed below are the common slang terms for marijuana and cocaine. You will often encounter these words in movies. There are many, many slang terms for these drugs — along with many other words surrounding drug use generally. We’ll start with the most common ones….

Slang for Marijuana (大麻)

• Grass
• Dope
• Pot
• Doobage
• Weed
• Reefer
• Mary Jane

Slang for Cocaine (可卡因)

• Coke
• Blow
• Snow
• Nose Candy

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Wife Slang

These are all terms that refer to one’s wife when speaking to other people.

• the ball and chain or the old ball and chain - funny, slightly derogatory. A ball and chain is something prisoners used to be forced to wear (see image above).

  Example: “I can’t go out tonight. I have to take the old ball and chain shopping.”

• the Mrs. - old-fashioned.

  Example: “The Mrs. wants me home by 10 o’clock.”

• better half

  Example: “Have I introduced you to my better half?”

• other half

  Example: “My other half is a doctor.”

• the little woman - old-fashioned, sounds funny.

  Example: “The little woman is at the store right now.”

• my old woman

  Example: “My old woman won’t let me drink anymore.”

• my old lady

  Example: “My old lady never shuts up.”

Most American women would disapprove of most of these terms, except for “better half,” “other half,” and “The Mrs.” “The Mrs.” is very old-fashioned and just sounds funny — it isn’t offensive. Men often use these phrases with their friends, though, as a funny way of referring to their wives.

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Same Old, Same Old

Joe: What are you doing tonight?
Sam: Same old, same old. (nothing new or unusual; the same thing I always do)

Joe: What’s new?
Sam: Not much.
Joe: Same old, same old, huh?
Sam: Yeah, pretty much.

The phrase “same old, same old” here means “the same old thing” or “the same old story” or “the thing I always do — nothing new, exciting, or unusual.” You need to repeat “same old” twice. You can’t just say “same old” by itself.

This is a very common phrase. You can find a lot of examples via Google here.

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