中式英语“加油”入选牛津词典 Add oil! Popular Chinese expression added to Oxford English Dictionary

Chinese soccer fans cheering and yelling "add oil" for Team China during Tuesday's International Friendship Cup game held in Nanjing, China. /VCG Photo

Chinese netizens are thrilled to find out that a popular Chinese phrase "add oil(加油 jiā yóu)" has entered the English lexicon and reportedly gained official recognition(认可 rèn kě) by the Oxford English Dictionary (OED). 

The phrase "add oil" is a literal translation of the Chinese expression "jiayou," which is commonly used when people want to show encouragement(鼓励 gǔ lì), support(支持 zhī chí) or excitement(兴奋 xīng fèn) to others.

The short phrase acts like a verbal pat on the back and was often translated to English as "cheer up," "come on" or "go for it" in different situations(情景 qíng jǐng). But given the word's versatile usage, it has long been a difficult quest for Chinese speakers to find a single(独立的 dú lì de), accurate(准确的 zhǔn què de) English counterpart for the common(普通的 pǔ tōng de) expression.

A screenshot of OED's explanation of the phrase "add oil." /Photo courtesy to Professor Hugo Tseng

As the OED unveiled its third quarterly update in early October, Chinese professor Hugo Tseng who teaches English at Taiwan's Soochow University discovered that a direct translation of "jiayou" – "add oil" – had been added to the dictionary.

The dictionary also decoded the etymology of the expression, which originally means injecting(注入 zhù rù) petrol(汽油 qì yóu) into an engine(发动机 fā dòng jī).

重点词汇 Key word: 

入 

•  <动词 v.> enter; go in/into
  E.g. Wàirén mò rù.
  外人莫入。
  No admittance to outsider.

• <动词 v.> join; enlist in
  E.g. Tāmen kěyǐ shēnqǐng jiārù gāi zǔzhī.
  他们可以申请加入该组织。
  They may apply to join the organization.

• <名词 n.> income
  E.g. Qùnián tā de shōurù jiǎnshǎo le bǎi fēn zhī èrshí.
  去年他的收入减少了20%。
  Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.