Eastern influences

10 Asian words that are part of our daily vocabulary

English vocabulary is riddled with words borrowed from other languages, but we often think about those that come from French, Spanish, or other Romance languages, though we are aware of the influence of Germanic and Nordic languages. But how often do we think about the influence of Asian languages in our everyday words? Asian influence might not be as pervasive as that of some European languages, but it’s much more present than you would think. Here are 10 Asian words that everyone has used at least once.

Several different languages —such as Arabic, Persian, or Greek— have used words with the same roots as ‘typhoon’ to describe strong winds or storms, but the term adopted into English is of Chinese origin.

During the 16th century, Portuguese sailors traveling across China adopted the Mandarin táifēng (in Cantonese, daaihfùng), meaning ‘big wind’, to describe severe storms. They spelled it as tufão, although English adopted it as touffon. Down the line, Greek influences affected the spelling, rendering our modern ‘typhoon’.

Most people know that tofu is an ingredient of Asian origin, but have you ever wondered what this word means? Although English borrowed it from Japanese, its origins are rooted in China.

The Japanese tōfu is a phonetic copy of the Chinese dòufu, a combination of dòu (‘bean’) and fǔ (‘curdled’ or ‘fermented’). However, the Chinese character for fǔ is also related to the character for ‘meat’ or ‘flesh’, and some linguists interpret that its use in ‘tofu’ is also a reference to tofu’s texture.

If we tried the original ketchup, we might not find many similarities with the ketchup we know. Originating from the Fujian region of China, kê-chiap or kôe-chiap was used for a pickled fish brine, but neighboring regions adopted the term to refer to savory dark sauces in general.

English and Dutch merchants picked up the term in Malaysia as kicap or kecap, but spelled it such as catchup, catsup, or ketchup. Initial English recipes relied on mushrooms, walnuts, and oysters to replicate the umami flavor of the original ketchup, but it was the addition of tomato in the 19th century that shifted the term ketchup to its current meaning.

A fairly new word, the term emoji was coined in 1999 by Shigetaka Kurita, the creator of the first telephone emojis. The word is a combination of e (‘picture’) and moji (‘character’ or ‘letter’); this last term is related to words like kanji, the Chinese ideograms used in Japanese writing,

Despite what many people think, emoji is not related to the term ‘emoticon’, a portmanteau of ‘emotion’ + ‘icon’. The fact that emojis and emoticons have phonetic similarities and are used for the same purpose is just a coincidence.

We might not use the word ‘tycoon’ daily, but you might have heard it in reference to wealthy and influential businessmen or politicians. Although it can now carry a slightly negative connotation, it was not negative in its origin. In Japanese, taikun (meaning ‘great lord’) was a title given to the shogun, the Japanese military leader, often more powerful than the Emperor.

When Japan opened to foreign trade in the 19th century, the word was adopted by English-speaking diplomats to refer to the shogun and, later, to other powerful politicians. It was not until the early 20th century that its meaning shifted from politics and came to be used for wealthy and highly influential people.

The term ‘ginger’ comes from an Old French word, but this doesn’t mean its origins are not rooted in Asia. We can find them in the Sanskrit śṛṅgavera, meaning ‘horned shaped’, a description of the antler-like shape of the ginger root.

How did śṛṅgavera become ‘ginger’? It first evolved into siṅgabera, a term adopted into Greek as zingiberis and into Medieval Latin as gingiber. Gingiber became the Old French gingibre, from where Old English got gingifer, later shortened to ‘ginger’.

You might associate ‘curry’ with a specific spice mix, typically used for a dish also named curry. This is not wrong, but is also not exactly right. In the Tamil language, kaṟi means ‘sauce’, ‘relish’, or any spiced meat and vegetables that were eaten with rice.

The word was adopted as ‘curry’ by English and as ‘caril’ by Portuguese traders, who used it as an umbrella term for any Indian spiced stew. By association, they also used the term for a mix of spices, called masala (‘mixture’, ‘blend’) in Indian cuisine. This way, hundreds of dishes and several masalas were grouped under the name ‘curry’.

In Western mentality, the term ‘zen’ is associated with Eastern spiritual practices, or at least with meditation and balance, but its story and meaning are much more complex. ‘Zen’ is a transliteration of the Japanese zen, which in turn comes from the Chinese chán or chánnà, meaning ‘meditation’.

But the roots of zen go deeper. Chánnà is not an original Chinese word, but the phonetic transliteration of the Sanskrit dhyāna, meaning ‘meditation’, ‘contemplation’, or a ‘state of meditative absorption’, a term that originated in ancient India and then travelled to China and Japan as part of Buddhist spirituality.

Neither ‘brain’ nor ‘to wash’ are words of Chinese origin, so how can ‘brainwashing’ be a Chinese term? It is because ‘brainwashing’ is a calque, meaning a word-for-word translation, of the Chinese xǐnǎo, which means ‘to wash the brain’.

The term xǐnǎo became popular in Chinese to describe political re-education policies used by the Chinese Communist Party. How did it enter the English vocabulary? It was translated and adopted by American journalist Edward Hunter to explain the actions of some American prisoners during the Korean War, claiming that they had been ‘brainwashed’ into adopting their captors’ ideologies or into making false statements.

Most Americans will understand ‘chop chop’ as slang for ‘hurry up’, but did you know that it comes from Chinese? The phrase comes from 19th-century Guangzhou (also known as Canton), where English and Cantonese had mixed to form a pidgin or contact language between two distinct languages.

Chinese language often reduplicates words for emphasis; in this case, the word sù, meaning ‘fast’, is reduplicated to make sù sù, ‘hurry up’. American and British sailors heard this phrase in the Guangzhou ports, and adopted it as the pidgin ‘chop chop’.

Facts you didn't know you needed

Is the day longer for your pet? Mind-blowing facts you need to know

Adults often assume they already understand the world, but there’s always something new to surprise us! Did you know that clouds actually have weight? Or that the day is longer for some animals? And that’s just the beginning. From hidden functions of your organs to the true color of the universe, today you’ll learn 10 fascinating facts you probably never thought to ask, but will make you sound impressively smart in your next conversation!

Unlike humans, animals don’t experience a shared "present" in quite the same way. Instead, their sense of time is tied to the rhythms of their own bodies. For very small animals with fast metabolisms like parrots, hamsters, or guinea pigs, time actually seems to pass more slowly. In a sense, they live in slow motion because their faster-working nervous systems allow them to process sensory information at a fast speed.

What if someone commits a crime and tries to blame their identical twin? Have you ever wondered about that? It’s a valid question; after all, identical twins not only look alike, they also share the same DNA. But here’s the surprising part: if investigators check fingerprints, the innocent twin could be cleared. That’s because, despite their nearly identical DNA, twins have unique fingerprints, shaped by subtle genetic and environmental factors in the womb.

You’ve probably spent time lying on the grass, watching clouds drift across the sky. They look light, fluffy, almost like cotton candy, and it’s hard to imagine them as heavy objects. But the truth is surprising: clouds are incredibly heavy. An average cumulus cloud can weigh around 1 million pounds! That impressive weight comes from the billions of tiny water droplets suspended in the air. So, how do they float? It’s because each droplet is extremely small and falls very slowly, while rising warm air currents help keep the cloud suspended above us.

Most of us have a rough image of the world map in our minds. But we have something to tell you: most maps aren’t completely accurate. Because the Earth is a sphere, cartographers have to distort some areas to represent it on a flat surface. On Mercator projection maps, countries near the poles appear much larger than they really are, while countries near the equator look smaller in comparison. For example, Alaska looks about the same size as Brazil, but in reality, Brazil is nearly five times larger!

Most people don’t realize that there’s actually a name for the color of the universe. Strange, right? But it’s true! Astronomers who studied the light from thousands of galaxies discovered that if you blend all the colors from the observable universe, the result is a soft, beige-ish white shade, famously named "Cosmic Latte" in 2002.

With 50 states, there’s no shortage of variety in their names. Almost every letter of the English alphabet appears at least once, except for one: Q, which is completely absent. In addition to this, there’s another surprisingly rare letter: J. While it isn’t entirely missing like Q, it only appears in one state, New Jersey.

Although we don’t notice it, indeed, the Earth’s rotation is gradually slowing. This happens because tidal friction, caused by the Moon’s gravitational pull on our oceans, creates a subtle drag on the planet’s spin. As a result, days are getting longer, but very gradually: by only about 1.7 milliseconds per century.

Do you remember your last dream? Whether good or bad, dreams are a constant part of sleep, but not everyone experiences them in the same way. Deaf people who use sign language in their daily lives often communicate through signs in their dreams, too. Meanwhile, blind people tend to have dreams rich in sounds, smells, and tactile sensations, using these other senses to experience the dream world.

We’re used to seeing hippos covered in mud, splashing in water, or barely peeking above the surface. But here’s a surprise: hippos can’t actually swim! That’s right. Because of their huge, heavy bodies, they don’t float or paddle like most animals. Instead, they walk or run along the riverbed.

Can your brain really "eat" itself? Well, close, but not exactly. There’s a process called phagocytosis, carried out by specialized immune cells in the brain known as microglia. These cells engulf and remove debris, dead cells, and other unwanted material. But don’t worry; it’s safe! The mechanisms exist to protect, repair, and maintain your brain.