Etymology

add oil

Today it means: Synonym of let's go: a cheer of encouragement, support, etc. Full definition →

Chinese 加油
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Chinese · calque of加油
  2. English todayadd oil

Calque of Chinese 加油 (jiāyóu), particularly in Hong Kong contexts via its Cantonese pronunciation gaa1 jau4-2, sometimes credited to shouts of support during the Macau Grand Prix. Compare cooking with gas, gas up, fuel up, etc.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.