Gungho

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Showing very strong enthusiasm and eagerness to take action
2. Demonstrating an intense and eager attitude towards participating in activities
3. Expressing high energy and zealous willingness to proceed with a task

Etymology: Evans Carlson, a U.S. Marine posted in China in the 1930s, is credited with turning a Chinese phrase into an American catchphrase. The phrase came from "gōnghé," an acronym for the Chinese "Industrial Cooperative Society" (gōngyè hézuòshè), built from 工 ("work") and 合 ("together"). Carlson read it as "work together," and that translation became the motto of the enthusiastic battalion he commanded. The Chinese characters did not literally mean "work together" as a phrase; the sense was Carlson's own interpretation. The battalion's zeal made the term a nickname, and other Marines began using it to mean "overly enthusiastic." The word spread through the United States after the 1943 war film "Gung Ho!", which dramatized the battalion's leadership in the Raid on Makin Island during World War II. The film carried the phrase from military slang into everyday speech, where it came to describe anyone eager to get going, sometimes to a fault.

Synonyms: enthusiastic, zealous, eager

Antonyms: apathetic, indifferent, unenthusiastic