Speakur

Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

gung ho

/ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.75 in modern English

Syllables
gung ho
IPA
/ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

Overly enthusiastic or energetic.

Derogatory; Informal

adj

Cocky; undisciplined; contemptuous of rules.

Derogatory; Informal

Example Sentences

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 war film Gung Ho! (1943), which profiled the battalion's leadership of the Raid on Makin Island during World War II.

Word Breakdown

Regional Pronunciation

  • American English: /ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/
  • British English: /ˌɡʌŋˈhəʊ/

Usage

Inflected Forms

more gung ho (comparative) most gung ho (superlative) gungho (alternative) gung-ho (alternative)

Rhymes With

to so do no so-so know go show though as though oh ago

Questions

How do you pronounce gung ho?
The recorded pronunciation is /ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/.
What does gung ho mean?
Overly enthusiastic or energetic.
Where does gung ho come from?
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 war film Gung Ho! (1943), which profiled the battalion's leadership of the Raid on Makin Island during World War II.

How to pronounce gung ho

  1. Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “gung ho”.
  2. Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˌɡʌŋˈhoʊ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
  3. Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “gung ho”.
  4. Repeat and practice — Say “gung ho” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.