Antedating of "Gung Ho"

[Douglas G. Wilson]

The putative etymon "gonghe" (Pinyin, tones omitted) would usually be
written "kung-ho" in Wade-Giles transcription (I think the usual ca.
1940). Quick N'archive search turns up the following:
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Ironwood [MI] Daily Globe_, 28 Aug. 1941: p. 9:

<<The Chinese industrial co-operative movement, Indusco (or kung ho)
produced more than a hundred different articles last year, and is
expanding further.>>

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Here "kung ho" is presumably the abbreviation noted earlier.

But in the following it is taken as a slogan:

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Hayward [CA] Daily Review_, 26 Sep. 1942: p. 3:

<<So much do the Chinese mean to Colonel Carlson that he named his
battalion the "Kung Ho." That means "Work Together," the slogan used by
the Chinese Industrial Cooperatives, who are supported in the United
States by United China Relief through Indusco, the American Committee in
Aid of Chinese Industrial Cooperatives.>>

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-- Doug Wilson

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