Etymology

banzai charge

Today it means: A human-wave suicide attack performed by Japanese soldiers during World War II. Full definition →

Japanese 天皇陛下万歳
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The story

  1. Japanese · derived from天皇陛下万歳“long live His Imperial Majesty”
  2. English todaybanzai charge

From banzai + charge. "Banzai" from Japanese 天皇陛下万歳 (Tennō Heika banzai, “long live His Imperial Majesty”), a common battle cry used by Japanese soldiers.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.