language of opium fiends, 1889

[Douglas G. Wilson]

>Does the "yen" in these combos have anything to do with the "yen" in
>"have a _yen_ for," etc. Spears derives it from "Chinese or
>mock-Chinese 'pen-yen'."

As for the etymology of this "yen", MW3 says: <<obsolete English
slang _yen-yen_ craving for opium, from Chinese (Cant) _in-yan_, from
_in_ opium + _yan_ craving>> (diacritics omitted). Seems reasonable
to me. Whether it must be derived from Cantonese, I don't know. My
poor-man's OED says something roughly similar.

I suppose it's probably from real Chinese. A modern example: I think
probably the title of this poem ("yan1 yin3" in pinyin 'Mandarin', I
think) is more-or-less the supposed etymon of "yen-yen". It is used
for tobacco addiction as well as opium addiction. One of those better
acquainted with Chinese can correct me if necessary.

http://www.ntut.edu.tw/~thchuang/peomindex/images/poem/canwen/canwen02.htm

-- Doug Wilson




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