Where East meets West: Asian language influences in English



English is the third most spoken language after Chinese and Spanish. Speaking English is no longer believed to be something special. It is a requirement. It is a world lingua franca. Speaking English makes it possible for people from different countries to communicate. As a result, English has influenced plenty of languages which have adopted a lot of anglicisms. But are there many foreign words which have infiltrated English?

Keywords : language, come from, meaning, loanword, borrow, derive, calque.

Where do English words come from? Ralf Waldo Emerson once described the English language as ‘the sea which receives tributaries from every region under the heaven’. [1] People dip into this sea and sprinkle their everyday conversations and their writings with words and phrases derived from other languages. English descends from Old English — the West Germanic language spoken by Anglo-Saxons. Its core vocabulary and most of its grammar are Germanic. The influence of other languages is mostly through loanwords. English borrowed quite many words from Old Norse , the North Germanic language of the Vikings who raided, pirated, traded and settled in Britain from the late 8th to the late 11 ^th centuries. With the famous Battle of Hastings, 1066, England became a bi-lingual country and a lot of words were borrowed from Norman French , the Romance language of the Normans, which descended from Latin. Some words were borrowed directly from Latin and Greek . The Celts contributed place names, names of rivers, hills, surnames and personal names. There are words of Spanish and Italian origin. The languages mentioned above share a common ancestor — Proto-Indo-European.

A quarter of the world’s population speak Southeast Asian languages belonging to several distinct language families: Sino-Tibetan, Tai-Kadai, Austroasiatic, Hmong-Mien, Koreanic, Japonic, Austronesian and Indo-European. These languages have made their contribution to English, too. The contribution is small — less than 1 %, but interesting.

Let us start with the Land of the Rising Sun. We use the Japanese word tycoon to describe a person who is successful in business or industry and has become rich and powerful. It come from the Japanese word taikun (大君) which means “great lord or prince”. This noun made its way to the West in the mid-19th century and originally referred to the shogun , or military leader, of Japan. It was also humorously used in reference to Abraham Lincoln by his aids John Hay and John Nicolay to indicate that he was an important man. Here is an example sentence: Unlike other Hong Kong tycoons who were careful not to provoke China’s leaders, Jimmy Lai had long been a proud rebel . [2] Mr. Lai is estimated to be worth of more than $1bn (£766m) — so he is a tycoon by all means.

The expression head honcho means an important influential person. Head honcho is a slang phrase but it carries an air of authority and leadership. The word honcho derives from the Japanese word “hancho” (班長) — squad leader or group head. It is thought that American soldiers picked up the Japanese word in the 1940s and brought or back to the USA. Over time the words “hancho” was anglicized to “honcho”. In business, the Head Honcho represents the top-tier person with significant decision-making power, a charismatic leader. In popular culture, mob bosses orchestrating intricate criminal enterprises and CEOs commanding multinational corporations embody the very essence of the Head Honcho. In her article about the January 6 Committee and the former Fox News politics editor’s testimony, Margaret Sullivan describes Rupert Murdoch as ‘head honcho’: Trump’s anger reportedly prompted his team’s efforts to lobby Fox head honcho Rupert Murdoch to retract the call . [3] No doubt he is a head honcho: through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including in the UK (The Sun and The Times), in Australia (The Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun, and The Australian), in the US (The Wall Street Journal and the New York Post), book publisher HarperCollins, and the television broadcasting channels Sky News Australia and Fox News (through the Fox Corporation).

When you congratulate your best friend on their birthday, you often text them the balloon, birthday cake and shooting star emojis . Such digital pictograms are used widely throughout social media, texting, e-mail, and other computer-mediated communications. They are used to express a variety of objects and ideas: emotions, foods, animals, flags and geography. The term was born from two Japanese words: e (絵), meaning “picture” and moji (文字), meaning “written character”. In 1999 Japanese software developer Shigetaka Kurita created a series of 176 colourful pictorial icons for the cell phone company NTT DOCOMO. These emojis depicted concepts that were simple yet universal, such as weather, moods, foods, and animals. Kurita is often credited for the invention of the emoji. The emojis were based on manga art, Japanese characters and street signs. Kurita’s original set is now housed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

	“Thinking face” emoji is used to express pondering.
	“Mind blown” emoji may represent such emotion as shock, disbelief, awe, amazement and extreme surprise.
	“Cute dog face” emoji symbolizes unconditional loyalty, faithfulness and affection. It is often used to refer to one's pet (“I love my dog”) or people who are smart or intelligent (“You smart dog!”). In chats, the emoji is used to express sympathy or compassion, especially when it comes to our beloved pets.
	“Bouquet” emoji is usually sent on Mother's Day and Valentine's Day as well as at weddings and other celebrations. It is meant to express congratulations and acknowledgement. The emoji is also used as a symbol of nature.
	“Film projector” emoji expresses the preference or interest in movies. It often serves as an invitation to a cozy evening.

Nevertheless, it is now believed that Japanese conglomerate SoftBank actually released the first set of emojis in 1997 for its phone carrier. The set was smaller, with 90 icons, depicted in black and white. The designer of this set is unknown.

A tsunami is an enormous sea wave that erupts and reaches land. You should be afraid of them, because a tsunami can destroy a coastal region in minutes. A colossal tsunami is thought to have destroyed the Minoan civilization in minutes. Japan has experienced plenty of tsunamis. They are caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions under the sea. Japan is located along the Pacific “ring of fire”, on the edges of several continental and oceanic plates, in the area of high seismic activity. The plates butt into each other, pressure builds and builds. Then, very unpredictably, the pressure releases. The release of such tension causes earthquakes, and the sudden lifting of the seabed triggers tsunamis. In the Japanese language tsu (津) means “harbour” and nami (波) means “wave”. The New York Times reports: Residents of the provinces Suriago del Sur and Davao Oriental on the eastern part of Mindanao were warned to head to higher ground or move farther inland because of the possibility of tsunami waves of more than one meter, or a little more than three feet, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology . [4]

People sometimes use tsunami metaphorically, to describe really destructive events. After a teenager’s parents came home, they compared the mess from their party to a tsunami. The Washington Times quotes Geert Wilders, the Dutch politician known for his anti-immigration stance: “Voters said, ‘We are sick of it. Sick to our stomachs’,” he said, adding he was now on a mission to end the “asylum tsunami ”. [5] Mynheer Wilders is known for his opposition to Islamist immigration which has been creating problems in the Netherlands. So, one of the points of his election programme is ending immigration from Muslim countries and banning the construction of new mosques. He also believes that all settled immigrants should be paid to leave.

Do you like aged cheese? How can you describe its rich flavor? Salty? No. Sweet? No. Bitter? Certainly not. Sour? By no means! A taste found in some foods that is neither sweet, salty, sour nor bitter is called umami . It is known as the “fifth taste”. It is the taste sensation that is produced by several amino acids and nucleotides (such as glutamate and aspartate) and has a rich or meaty flavor characteristic of cheese, cooked meat, mushrooms, soy, and ripe tomatoes.

Even Auguste Escoffier, known as “the king of chefs and the chef of kings,” whose dishes combined the different elements of taste — salty, sour, sweet and bitter — didn’t have a name for a savory taste. In 1908, Kikunae Ikeda, the Japanese scientist, was the first to discover the savory taste of the amino acid glutamic acid, which was found to occur in soup stocks made with seaweed. And he gave it the name. Umami comes from Japanese うまみ — “savouriness”. The food magazine ‘Bon Appétit’ published some cookie recipes provided by the staff and contributors. Jamila Robinson, the editor-in-chief, adds cheddar cheese into her favourite pastry: Sharp cheddar is the star of these savory cookies, bringing a welcome hit of umami . [6] SELF , the American online magazine for women, quotes Jing Gao, founder and CEO of the chili crisp brand ‘Fly By Jing’: Level up your ice cream by tossing in some chili crisp to give it a sweet, salty, and umami flavor. [7] I personally believe the spicy and umami flavors in chili crisp make it a great addition on noodles and pasta, vermicelli and spaghetti, rigatoni, macaroni and cheese, or lasagna. But umami ice-cream? I suppose if Wodehouse’s Ukridge tasted it, he would exclaim “It’s a little hard!”

Do you take a packed lunch to eat at work or university? If you have it in your lunch box, you are a boring person. If you bring it in a bento box, you add fun and creative joy to your midday meal. A bento is a box and a meal traditionally consisting of cooked vegetables, meat or fish, pickles, noodles or rice, each tucked into its own section. Japanese bento is all about putting together a well-balanced meal packed neatly, and nicely, in a single box. In the UK and the USA, a bento box often contains a little bit of everything — cherry tomatoes, roasted turkey slices, boiled eggs, steamed rice, sliced sausages, roasted zucchini, avocado, nuts, berries, etc. Bento comes from Japanese bentō (弁当), “a single-portion takeout meal, box lunch”. Junie, the main character in ‘Finding Junie Kim’ by Ellen Oh, remembers her grandma: She also went to my favorite little Japanese cafe and got me a bento box of Japanese fried chicken with rice, miso soup, and potato salad. [8] The Seattle Times mentions the popularity of Aburiya Bento House on Western Avenue and Lenora Street in Seattle with local customers and tourists: With its proximity to Pike Place Market, the restaurant is popular with tourists who post photos of bento boxes on social media, as well as downtown workers seeking lunch deals. [9]

If one is obsessed with manga, anime and knows a lot about computers and computer games, other, less enthusiastic people can call them otaku .

The word originally came from お 宅 たく , which means “your family” or “household”. Besides, it is a polite way to say “you”.

Otaku was used as “you” by fans of anime and manga since the 1970s. They were socially awkward and too shy or sometimes even scared to ask people’s names. This is why they kept referring to each other as otaku even after getting to know each other. Their social awkwardness was brought up in 1983, in a series of essays published in a hentai lolita magazine. These essays were called おたくの (otaku no kenkyuu) — otaku research. The author of the essays, Akio Nakamori, started to use the word for disruptive fans of manga and anime. Otaku also became popular because of its double meaning. The kanji, 宅, also means house or home. It also stood for someone who doesn’t go outside much and stays at home.

Are you interested in hockey? Then you know that Rick Nash, one of the most feared goal scorers of his generation, had 437 goals in his 16 years in the NHL, which means he got a skosh more than halfway toward Gretzky's 894. The word skosh comes from the Japanese word ‘sukoshi’ (pronounced «skoh shee»), which means «a tiny bit» or «a small amount». The Japanese word was shortened by U. S. servicemen stationed in Japan after World War II. Later, in the Korean War, a short soldier was often nicknamed Skosh. In civilian-speak, skosh can be used by itself as a noun or in the adverbial phrase «a skosh». You may say I’m a skosh tired . When you cook, you taste the dish and add a pich of salt because you want it to be a skosh saltier.

Certainly, there are many Japanese food words that have entered English. There are too many to list them all, but they include teriyaki, shiitake, yakitori, miso, wasabi, soy, ramen, sushi, fugu, sake, tofu and nori.

The English language has few words of Korean origin. Most of them have entered English over the last 20 years as a result of the Korean wave of K-Pop and K-Dramas. Have you ever seen mukbang ( meokbang) ? Of course, you have. It is a video in which a host consumes a great quantity of food and from time to time interacts with the audience. The word comes from Korean 먹방 meogneum (eating) + bangsong (broadcast). Mukbang YouTubers get millions of viewers and subscribers. The two questions arise: Why would you want to watch other people eating? And why would a person want numerous Internet users observe them chewing their food and swallowing it?

One of the main reasons is that in Korea and in European countries a lot of people eat their evening meal alone. And mukbang videos provide a feeling of shared eating experience. Besides mukbangers can earn from advertising. Live-streaming platforms like AfreecaTV and Twitch allow viewers to send payments to their favorite streamers. MommyTang, the YouTube mukbanger, claimed that successful mukbangers can earn $100,000 in year. [10]

The next word is a food word — kimchi which is a spicy, pungent vegetable dish consisting of one or more pickled and fermented vegetables, especially napa cabbage and radishes, with various seasonings (such as garlic, red chili pepper, ginger, scallions, and anchovy paste). Kimchi is a staple food in Korean cuisine and it is consumed at every meal. For Koreans, kimchi is a way of life, a philosophy. They even sent it with their astronaut Yi So-yeon to the International Space Station in 2008. Kimchi has been recognised by the United Nations as part of global heritage. It was inscribed in 2013 on the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. [11] November 22 is officially ‘Korean Kimchi Day’ in the United States. The aim of this annual observance is to recognize the cultural significance and health benefits of kimchi. Kimchi Day celebrations take place in various states, including California, Maryland, Virginia, New York, Michigan, Washington DC, and the Kingston District in London, UK.

If you like your birthday present, you may say it is daebak which means it is amazing. The Korean 대박 means “awesome’ or “amazing’. Stars in Korean dramas and variety shows use this word frequently. It describes when something is awesome or it's a way of showing enthusiasm, surprise or even shock. You can use daebak to express your admiration for someone’s skills, to compliment a delicious meal, to describe a thrilling film or a fun outing with friends. When a person wins a swimming competition, his friend can say: Did you see how fast Jack swam, daebak! Or one can praise a good singer: — Susan is singing so beautifully. — Susan, daebak! The word entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 2003.

Do you know that quite many words commonly used in the English language are of Chinese origin? They are either loanwords or calques.

As Christmas and the New Year draw close, people are preparing to clink glasses and toast to a happier future. The English word for “cheers” has the Chinese origin. Chin-chin is uttered by people when they raise and clink their glasses together in a toast. Though the word sounds a little Italian, it actually comes from the Mandarin 请 qǐng, meaning “please” or “to invite”, an exclamation used to express good wishes before drinking. While occasionally used in American English, chin-chin is an informal and outdated British English usage. The phrase was imported to Europe after the Renaissance when adventurers, merchants and missionaries returned from the Far East and shared the etiquette they had picked up. It was adopted by local languages: cin-cin in Italian or tchin-tchin in French. Interestingly enough, qing qing is rarely used during toasts in China today.

Chop-chop is the phrase first noted in British-occupied South China in the interaction between English people and the locals. It spread among Chinese workers in the ports and was adopted by British sailors. Chop-chop means “quick”, “move faster” or “hurry up” and suggests that something should be done without any delay. It comes from the Cantonese word, gāp, which in Mandarin is 急 (jí). Both mean “in a rush.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary states the first known use of chop-chop was in 1834 along with city father, relocate, blood cell and electrolyte to name but a few. In the 21 ^st century, Harry Potter’s Aunt Petunia says: Go on then, lay down your grotty little flowers and then let's go. I already hate this poxy little village, I don't know why I even had the thought -- Godric's Hollow, Godless Hollow, more like, the place is clearly a hive of filth -- go on, chop-chop . Godric’s Hollows is a small village where Harry Potter’s parents lived when he was a baby and where they were murdered. No wonder Aunt Petunia wants to leave the place where her sister and brother-in-law died as soon as possible. [12] Rory Carrol, the Irish journalist working for The Guardian, writes about prolific Ridley Scott: He does screenplays at the same chop-chop pace . [13] Chopsticks are likely to have the sane origin. They make eating food speedy. They are “speed sticks”.

The word “tea” comes from Chinese and so does “char”, the other word for tea. Both words come from this Chinese character 茶 which means something like “bitter plant”. Around the 17 ^th century the Portuguese and the Dutch were the main exporters of tea. The Dutch exported tea from Fujian where Min Chinese was spoken and the name of the drink was pronounced something like /tiː/. The Portuguese exported tea from the port of Macao where Cantonese was spoken and locals pronounced the word something like /tʃɑː/. Tea is Britain’s favourite drink which people associate with India. But the English word “tea” actually comes from the Dutch corruption ‘te” of a Min Chinese word.

As for “char” , it is considered to be an old British English slang term for “tea”. People mostly use it when they want to sound deliberately working class or for humorous effect. Though we can hear (or read) the phrase ‘a cup of char and a wad’, which means ‘a cup of tea and a slice of cake’ in a World War II context.

“Chai” has a longer way of penetrating English. The word comes from Hindi cāy and Urdu čā'e, tea, but ultimately (probably via Persian čāy) from Mandarin chá. It describes the beverage made from spiced black tea, milk and sugar (or sometimes honey).

Another Chinese borrowing is gung-ho . In Chinese it means something like “work together”. But in English it is an adjective which describes someone who is extremely enthusiastic about doing something or who is ready to fight. During World War II, Major Evans Carlson (United States Marine Corps) lead a special group of soldiers, Marine Raiders or Carlson’s Raiders. He was influenced by the guerilla tactics of Chinese fighters and he was impressed by their spirit of cooperation. That is why he started to use the phrase gung-ho to encourage his own men. Soon his Marines began calling themselves the «Gung Ho Battalion».

Now you use gung-ho to describe anyone who is keen, fervent, enthusiastic, rabid or mad. For example, Clare Brennan writes a review article on the musical Barnum. She describes the Ms. Carroll’s brilliant portrayal of one of the leading roles: Tamsin Carroll, as Mrs. Barnum, has just the right mix of chiding, loving and gung-ho support for Barnum's wild schemes. [14] You may say that some overenthusiastic person has a gung-ho zeal . I’m sure you know a gentleman or two who are gung-ho for football . University professors like when their students have a gung-ho attitude to their studies. Is your mother usually gung-ho about getting the house cleaned up because of the guests?

What do people often use to complement hot dogs, chicken tenders, hamburgers, French fries and other potato dishes? Yes, ketchup — a thick spicy sauce usually made from tomatoes. The etymology of the word is obscure. There are a few competing theories. We are interested in the so-called Amoy Theory: in the 17th century, the Chinese mixed a concoction of pickled fish and spices, called kôe-chiap or kê-chiap (鮭汁) in the Amoy dialect. By the early 18th century, the sauce had made it to the Malay peninsula, where it was later discovered by English traders. They developed a taste for the salty condiment which was easy to store on long ocean voyages. The 19 ^th century was a Golden Age for ketchup. Cookbooks contained recipes for ketchups made of walnuts, mushrooms, mussels, oysters, celery, lemons, egg whites and even such fruit as peaches, plums and grapes. The ‘Prince of Wales’ ketchup was made from anchovies and elderberries. We can see that anchovies, mussels and oysters were the only tribute to the original Chinese recipe.

Take it or leave it, but the ancestor of Heinz Ketchup was tomato-free. It was in 1812 when the first recipe for tomato ketchup was developed. Tomatoes, nuts, mushrooms, anchovies, oysters — what do all these foods have in common? The shared trait is umami , the savory fifth taste. We use the Japanese borrowing to describe the Chinese one. In one of her recent articles Jennifer Harper suggests some ideas for unusual Christmas gifts: candy canes. Archie McPhee Company “stocks them in the following flavors: macaroni and cheese, pickle, ketchup , gravy, hot dog, Caesar salad, butter and sardine”. [15] What flavor candy cane would you like to taste?

One more borrowing from the Chinese language is a calque of an old Chinese idiom 纸老虎, zhǐlǎohǔ, — paper tiger. It refers to someone who at first sight seems to be in charge but who, on closer examination, is actually powerless. The phrase became popular in 1956 when Mao Zedong, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, used it to describe American imperialism: In appearance it is very powerful but in reality it is nothing to be afraid of; it is a paper tiger . Outwardly a tiger, it is made of paper, unable to withstand the wind and the rain. I believe that it is nothing but a paper tiger . [16] We can find another example in David Stanway’s article about «zero-COVID» policy in China: Before, the virus was as fierce as a tiger, but now it is a paper tiger . [17]

In December 2022, three women (Naomi Bistline, Donnae Barlow, both 24, and Moretta Rose Johnson, 19) were arrested by the FBI. They were charged with kidnapping and obstruction of justice in a related child safety case involving Samuel Rappylee Bateman, northern Arizona polygamist sect leader. Bistline's defense attorney Daniel Kaiser argued that his client was a victim of severe abuse and brainwashing by Bateman. [18] The defense lawyer used the word brainwashing to support his client’s case. He meant Naomi Bristline had been forced to give up her social and religious beliefs and to accept contrasting ideas. The lawyer wanted to show that Bateman had a way with words and had managed to prevent any other information from reaching his client. I am pretty sure that you know people who are so brainwashed by advertising that they believe everything it tells them. Brainwash comes from Chinese 洗腦, consisting of the characters 洗 'wash' and 腦 'brain'. The term was first used by the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army during the Korean War. Brainwashing came into the mainstream English language after Western media sources first utilized it to describe the attitudes of prisoners of war returning from the Korean War. Merriam-Webster Dictionary states that the first known use of brainwashing was in 1950 along with online, McCarthyism, nail-biter, world federalism, assault rifle and off-the-shelf .

Lend you £500! No can do ! We understand that one cannot lend such a big sum of money. The phrase sounds informal, and it sounds English. But this expression is derived from the pidgin English antonym can do . Can do was picked by sailors in the Far East and soon turned around. New Zealand-born English lexicographer Eric Partridge believed the phrase dates back to 1850 or even earlier. Both positive and negative variants were widely used in the military and soon spread to civilian language. [19]

Philip Bump, the columnist for The Washington Post, dwells on some political and economic changes in Florida. He wonders how they may affect the Sunshine State in the years to come. He instances the extract from Republican Bob Martinez’s gubernatorial inauguration speech: Floridians, whether native or new, are a unique blend of ethnic, racial and age groups. This diversity has produced a spirit of independence and enterprise — a can-do attitude — that is our greatest resource . [20] It is domestic and international migration that has spurred Florida’s population and economic growth. The journalist asks the hard question: What will happen if people with can-do spirit stop coming to the state?

If you are not able or willing (or if you are lazy) to do something, you shake your head and say Sorry, no can do . I just don’t have the time .

No can do is often used as a polite way of declining a request or suggestion without giving a specific reason. For example, when a friend of yours invites you to a garden party but you don’t feel like going, you may say Sorry, No Can Do instead of explaining why you don't want to attend.

In modern English, no can do conveys a range of emotions and attitudes, from politeness to apathy to defiance. It is deeply ingrained in the language :

I’m sorry, no can do.

No can do, that’s too dangerous.

No can do, I’m busy right now.

No can do, it’s against my programming.

No can do, that’s illegal.

Another word is kowtow which comes from the Chinese word 叩頭 kou tou which literally means “knock head”. It is a form of a low bow used to show respect, submission or reverence. In English it is more often used figuratively. To kowtow means to show somebody in authority too much respect and be too willing to obey them. And it is quite pejorative. For example, when we want to say that somebody tries to gain their boss’ favour by flattering or cringing, we say He is always kowtowing to Mr. N . If your boss were a tyrant, you could prefer to resign but not to kowtow to his/her ridiculous demands. Political contributing columnist to The Washington Post Matt Bai writes about Ron DeSantis election campaign: For one thing, you have to wonder why Trump voters would vote for anyone who kowtows to Trump when they can just as easily vote for the Dear Leader himself. [21] By kowtowing to Trump, Bai means DeSantis’ attempts to prove his Trumpian bona fides: his skepticism of American involvement in Ukraine while declaring war on undocumented immigrants and transgender Americans.

The concept of face is very important in Chinese society. It refers to one’s social reputation, honour and dignity. The Chinese care a lot about not doing things that could make them or other people look bad. From this the English language gets two expressions translated from Chinese — to lose face and to save face . Many leaders don’t want to lose face by admitting their failures. When someone is fired, but she/he tries to save face by telling everyone she/he was resigned. I believe people should learn to accept defeat without losing face .

Let’s have a look at the Malay Language or Bahasa Malayu spoken in Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. In the 1500s, a Portuguese writer and explorer named Duarte Barbosa described a murderous tribe on the island of Java as the «Amuco», and the word passed on into English. Amuco came from Amuk, a Malay word meaning «attacking furiously». The Fox News website reports: According to Amnesty International, armed bandits ran amok in around 20 communities in central Nigeria, killing more than 140 people. In a country where accurate statistics have traditionally been difficult to obtain, some sources put the death toll at around 200. [22] The article deals with a never-ending massacre of Christians in Nigeria. Christian villages are burnt down and looted, Christian churches are destroyed, women and children are hunted. The author uses the phrase run amok in its original meaning — to rush around in a violent, murderous frenzy. But nowadays the expression is more often used to describe someone who behaves or runs around in a wild, unruly, out-of-control manner; who is crazy or chaotic. For example, drunken students often run amok on their college premises after celebrating the end of the examination period. I can often see enthusiastic Jack Russell terriers and beagles running amok in the local dog park. To go amok also means to become bad or go awry; to get out of control; to go haywire. Unfortunately, your plans for a quiet evening at home sometimes run amok because the boss wants you to work extra hours. If you have to work extra hours, the weeds run amok on your lawn.

As often as not, we hear the phrase in the news: when there is a mass shooting in the USA, for example, they may say that the gunman ran amok. Or when a group of people start rioting and looting, we might hear that the crowd ran amok.

Other words from Malay include bamboo, paddy (paddy field), sarong and orangutan.

The main character of humorous and compassionate novel ‘Cat’s Eye’, Elaine Risley, keeps all her money in an old tin tea caddy with a picture of the desert on it, palm trees and camels. [23] Tea caddy — a can for storing tea — is one more English word of Malay origin. It is derived from Malay ‘kati’ — a unit of weight. The catty was adopted as a standard mid-18 ^th century by the British in the Orient and fixed in 1770 by the East India Company at a pound and a third. Apparently, the word for a measure of tea was transferred to the chest it was carried in. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the first known use of caddy was in 1785 along with unlearnable, fireguard, unofficial, fish oil, boring , spoilsport, anti-Irish and take part to name just a few.

‘Fowler’s Household Helps’ advises its readers to thoroughly dry the peel from an orange or a lemon, and place it in the tea caddy . This will greatly improve the flavor of the tea. [24]

From Thai the English language gets some food words: mee crob (sweet noodles), tom yam (flavoured soup), lao khao (rice whisky), khao soy (wide rice noodls) and makrut lime . What is the authentic Thai experience for most visitors to the Kingdom of Thailand? The icon of the country, the humble tuk tuk ! One of the best ways to explore Bangkok is to take a tuk tuk tour. There’s something about the buzz of spinning around the capital in one of these open-air, three-wheeled vehicles. The word is onomatopoeia mimicking the sound of the engine. When a thing is not very difficult to deal with or to understand, you can say: That’s a nit-noy problem. These are the only words we can find from Thai except for food words.

From Philippines English gets yo-yo . The word come from the Llocano language and means ‘come and go’. It was coined by Pedro Flores, a Filipino immigrant to the USA. He started a company manufacturing yo-yos in Santa Barbara, California, in 1928.

The toy itself is much older and was earlier known as ‘bandalore’ a word of obscure origin.

The illustration from a fashion journal depicts a woman playing with a bandalore. It was published in the German Journal des Luxus und der Moden (October 1791). [25]

We can find the toy in one of the Harry Potter books: Riddle took off the lid and tipped the contents on to his bed without looking at them. Harry, who had expected something much more exciting, saw a mess of small, everyday objects: a yo-yo , a silver thimble and a tarnished mouth-organ among them. [26] Tom Riddle used all these things to make bad things happen to people who “annoyed” him.

Yo-yo is also an adjective describing something that moves up and down quickly, or something that changes repeatedly between one level and another. Nowadays a lot of people try to maintain ideal weight by reducing some food products but often slide into yo-yo dieting when they lose weight and then gain it again repeatedly. Unfortunately, lovers may have the yo-yo syndrome — they break up, then get scared and run back to each other, only to break up again.

Yo-yo is used as a verb. It means to change repeatedly in size, amount, quality, etc. from one extreme to another. Do you think the price of fossil fuel is going to yoyo ?

In one of her articles, Vogue 's beauty and wellness editor Hannah Coates stresses how important it is to maintain healthy, balanced blood sugar levels to ensure the insulin stays in check for optimal health. She quotes Jessica Sepel, founder of JS Health: Coffee also causes a blood sugar yo-yo , says Sepel, due to a link between adrenaline, cortisol and insulin . [27]

In the United States and Canada, a yo-yo is a stupid person, especially one who is easily manipulated.

Any area in the country that is peaceful and quiet, has few people living in it and is a long way from a city or a town is called the boondocks. That place is all the way out in the boondocks—it'll take us hours to get there. The word comes from the Tagalog word for a mountain, and was brought to English by the U. S. military forces who had occupied the Philippines at the beginning of the 20th century. During the American-Philippine War, mountainous terrain afforded the Filipinos a position of strategic advantage in fighting for their country’s independence. The boondocks served as a Filipino base of resistance and were highly contested terrain. But in American English the word is synonymous with “hinterland” and “backwoods”.

Virginia, the main character of ‘The Queen of Water’ lives in a small, earthen-walled dwelling in an Andean village in Ecuador. In her indigenous community, it is not uncommon to work in the fields all day, even as a child, or to be called a ‘longa tonta’—stupid Indian—by members of the privileged class of mestizos, or Spanish descendants. Seven-year-old Virginia is taken from her home to be a servant to a mestizo couple: Quito is a big, beautiful city, so much prettier than those boondocks where you live now. And my daughter needs a maid desperately. She’s an angel. She’ll treat you well. [28]

Boondocker is a derivative of “boondocks”. In American English it describes a person who enjoys the outdoors away from modern society in their quest for freedom and solitude. Boondockers are typically nature lovers, they strongly believe in “pack it in, pack it out” and you will rarely be able to say if they whether they have visited the location or not. It is interesting to note that the boondocks is used in informal disapproving contexts about areas where cell-phone reception and cable TV are not guaranteed. But boondockers are mostly people whose educational levels range from Doctorates to high school graduates or simply a GED[1].

If a person starts exercising and keeping to a healthy diet after neglecting to do so for a long time, some friends might try to ridicule their effort and progress. A colleague spreads malicious rumour about a coworker who is expected to get promotion. These are examples of crab mentality . Crab mentality is a calque of Tagalog ‘isip talangka’ . The next example illustrates the origine of the idiom:

“She reached down and picked a crab out of a bucket. As it came up it turned out that three more were hanging on to it.

‘A crab necklace?’ giggled Juliet.

‘Oh, that’s crabs for you,’ said Verity, disentangling the ones who had hitched a ride. ‘Thick as planks, the lot of them. That’s why you can keep them in a bucket without a lid. Any that tries to get out gets pulled back. Yes, as thick as planks.’”[2]

Crab mentality is a way of thinking best described by the phrase “If I can’t have it, neither can you”. It refers to a pot of crabs in which one tries to escape over the side but is relentlessly pulled back inside by the others.

There are numerous Vietnamese-American communities and Vietnamese restaurants all over the United States, so banh mi is readily available. Banh mi is a sandwich made with various meats, fresh or pickled vegetables, and usually sriracha (a spicy sauce) or another condiment, served in a baguette that is traditionally made with both wheat flour and rice flour. Quite many Americans and Britishers consider it a first-rate quick bite.

Seattle Times food writer Tan Vinh gives the list of new dishes that are offered at Seahawks’ home games at Lumen Field (stadium). 40 local restaurants have concession stands at the games, including first-time vendors Saigon Drip Café and Maria Luisa Empanadas. Saigon Drip Café offers a chicken banh mi and a tofu version. At all Grab & Go locations. [29] Houston can boast several Vietnamese restaurants. Saigon Hustle is one of them. It “serves banh mi , bun (vermicelli bowls) and com (rice bowls) — looks like an American drive-in from the 1950s, with a large awning decorated with images of dragon fruits, and an area where cars can pull up” . [30]

“East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.” This phrase from Rudyard Kipling’s “Barrack-room Ballads” has been used on many occasions. The title of my article is an allusion to “The Ballad of East and West”. My piece of writing is an attempt to make Kipling’s phrase sound less uncompromising and less dogmatic. At least lexicologically.

Contacts between English and Asian languages have existed for several centuries, causing lexical exchanges between them. As a result, numerous lexical items are taken from Asian languages to English. The borrowings have gained different degrees of acceptance and enriched the English vocabulary. One fruitful field of borrowing is Food and Drink Category. It can be easily explained by the popularity of Asian cuisines all over the globe. Other categories are People, Society, Politics and Technology. Borrowings have entered English using different routes, directly and indirectly.

References:

1. Ralf Waldo Emerson. “Journals and Miscellaneous Notebooks: 1841–1843”, p.357. Harvard University Press, 1960.
2. Tiffany May and Alexandra Stevenson. Arrested in 2020, Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Tycoon Gets His Day in Court, The New York Times, December 17, 2023.
3. Margaret Sullivan. Chris Stirewalt lost his job at Fox News. But he knows he was right. The Washington Post, June 13, 2022.
4. Andrés R. Martínez. Powerful Earthquake Strikes Eastern Philippines but Tsunami Fears Abate, The New York Times, December 2, 2023.
5. Mike Corder and Raf Casert. Anti-Islam Populist Wilders Heading for Massive Win in Netherlands in a Shock for Europe. CP24, November 22, 2023.
6. Jamila Robinson. The Great BA Cookie Swap. Bon Appétit and Epicurious, December 1, 2023.
7. Ashia Aubourg. 6 Creative Ways to Use Chili Crisp to Level Up Your Everyday Meals. SELF, July 25, 2023.
8. Ellen Oh. Finding Junie Kim. HarperCollins, ISBN-13 978–0062987990, 2022.
9. Lauren Girgis. Belltown Restaurant Reopens 3 Months After Owner Fatally Shot. The Seattle Times, September 12, 2023.
10. Margot Harris. 'I Don't Like to Eat Alone': Inside the World of 'Mukbangs,' Extreme-eating Videos That are Making YouTubers Rich. Business Insider, March 2, 2020.
11. https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/kimjang-making-and-sharing-kimchi-in-the-republic-of-korea-00881
12. J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two: The Official Playscript of the Original West End Production. (Act 3, Scene 12) Arthur A. Levine Books. ISBN-13 978–1338216677, 2017
13. Rory Carrol. Ridley Scott on Erasing Kevin Spacey from His New Film: ‘He’s a Very Good Actor. It’s a Pity’. The Guardian, January 5. 2018.
14. Clare Brennan. Josephine and I; Barnum; The Hush — Review. The Guardian, July 28, 2013.
15. Jennifer Harper. Just in Case. The Washington Post, November 30, 2023.
16. Mao Zedong. “US Imperialism Is A Paper Tiger”. Selected Works of Mao Tse-Tung. Volume 5. Peking: Foreign Languages Press.
17. David Stanway. Insight: Inside China’s Fight Over the Future of Zero-COVID. Reuters, December 2, 2022.
18. Lacey Latch. Women Tied to Arizona Polygamist Sect Held in Jail on Kidnapping Charges. The Arizona Republic, 13 Dec. 2022.
19. Eric Partridge. A Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English. Colloquialisms and Catch-Phrases, Solecisms and Catachreses, Nicknames, Vulgarisms and such Americanisms as have been Naturalized. Page 134. London. Routledge & Keagan Paul Ltd. Broadway House: 68–74 Carter Lane, E.C.4. 1937.
20. Philip Bump. Book Excerpt: What Florida Tells Us About the Future of U. S. Politics. The Washington Post, January 11, 2023.
21. Matt Bai. Ron DeSantis Needs to Ask Himself This Question. The Washington Post, April 27, 2023.
22. Paul Tisley. Fox News. Published December 30, 2023, 7:18 PM ET
23. Margaret Atwood. Cat’s Eye. Anchor, January 20, 1998. ISBN-13: 978–0385491020.
24. Arthur L. Fowler. Fowler’s Household Helps. Over 300 Useful and Valuable Helps About the Home, Carefully Compiled and Arranged in Convenient Form for Frequent Use. Household Publishing Company, 132 Jay St. Albany, New York, 1916.
25. https://zs.thulb.unijena.de/rsc/viewer/jportal_derivate_00252574/JLM_1791_H010_0033.tif?logicalDiv=jportal_jparticle_00084829
26. J. K. Rowling. Harry Potter and the Half-Breed Prince. Chapter 13. Scholastic Inc.; Reprint edition (August 27, 2013), ISBN-13: ‎978–0545582995
27. Hannah Coates. 7 Signs Your Blood Sugar Is Out of Whack — And What to Do About It. Glamour, October 31, 2023.
28. Laura Resau and Maria Virginia Farinango. The Queen of Water. Page 103. Ember; Reprint edition (March 13, 2012), ISBN-13: ‎978–0375859632
29. Tan Vinh. Here are the New Menu Items Available at Lumen Field for Seahawks Games in 2023. The Seattle Times, September 1, 2023.
30. Priya Krishna. Banh Mi in a Drive-Through? Vietnamese Restaurants Reach for Fast-Food Success. The New York Times, April 26, 2022.

---

[1] In the USA, a series of four subject tests a person can take to demonstrate their high school academic knowledge.

[2] From Unseen Academicals in Terry Pratchett’s “Diskworld” series, 2009.