Chinese-born English words will go big(2)

　　Photo: Globaltimes.cn

Various loanwords from Chinese

"The Chinese words Ganbu (cadre), and Guanxi (connections) were officially added to the Oxford English Dictionary many years ago; Tofu (bean curd), Peking duck (roast duck), and Chow Mein (stir-fried noodles) are now everyday terms in English countries; Cheng-guan (City management) and Dia (delicately pretty) have also made an impact," said Professor Ran Qibin from the College of Chinese language and culture of Nankai University.

In recent years, a group of English words of Chinese origin has proliferated; some relate to Chinese culture, such as Confucius (Kongzi, politician, and philosopher of ancient China), Laozi (a philosopher of ancient China), Tao (a philosophical and religious tradition), Tao Te Ching (a Chinese classic text), Feng Shui (an area of Chinese metaphysics), and Mandarin (China's official language). Some come from sports and entertainment, such as Kungfu and Taichi (Chinese martial arts), and have become known through the popularity of Chinese action movies. In the fields of politics and economics, Lianghui (the Chinese government's two annual meetings) is gradually being adopted by more international media agencies after it was first used by CNN news, and the Chinese currency unit Jiao (similar to a US 10 cents ), and Yuan (like the US dollar) are also to be found in English dictionaries. Sometimes Yuan is used as the name of the Chinese currency.