The term gung-ho, meaning “enthusiastic,” was first mentioned in a 1942 article in the New York Times Magazine. It was cited as the slang motto of the 2nd Marine Raider Battalion, an American guerrilla unit in the Pacific theatre of World War II. Major Evans Carlson picked up the phrase from his friend, communist writer Rewi Alley, who had learned it from the Chinese term kung ho, which means “work together” in English. This phrase, derived from the Chinese words gong (work) and he (together), described a strong spirit of cooperation and unity. The term gained popularity among US Marines in the 1940s and even inspired a war film in 1943. It later entered mainstream usage in the late 1950s and reached its peak in 2012.
