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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Dave and others:</FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>An interesting question. <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>If we knew when the word entered the language, we could probably make a better guess.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I have no clue, except that the term has been around for some time and seems to have universal recognition.</FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Obviously it is from English "fight."<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The Japanese have used the term for decades as faito.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>But in Korean this is rendered paiteu (p'aitŭ)<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>with the same approximate meaning (t'uji) or fighting spirit.</FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>But how did the –ing suffix slip in there?<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>One <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>possibility is that this is a shortened form of the expression "fighting spirit" (jeontu jeongsin), which I find in Yi Hui-seung's Kugo taesajon (1961, I think.). <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Maybe close, but probably no cigar.</FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Going out on a limb here, isn't it also possible that the Korean use of "fighting" might have come from the common American football cheer:<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>"Fight team, fight!"<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>There is a musical genre in the US called "college football fight songs," and the word "fight" or "fighting" is found in dozens of them.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Notre Dame's football team was called the "Fighting Irish.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Michigan State's fight song, among others, includes the line "fight team fight."<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I remember the cheerleaders at our high school back in the 1940s would always end their cheers with a vigorous "Fight team, fight!"<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Could it be that the cheer "Fight, team!" or "Fight team, fight!" was interpreted/heard by Koreans (hundreds of thousands of students and visitors, or via TV or movies) as "fighting?"<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>(Try saying "fight team" seven or eight times in rapid succession.) <SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>The idea seems not too far-fetched.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>Of course in Korea today the use of "fighting"—sometimes accompanied by a "high-five"—goes well beyond sports events.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Anyway, this is pure speculation and contributed in the hopes of enlivening the holiday doldrums in the Korean Studies Discussion List.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN>I would like to hear other theories on this linguistic (albeit not world-shaking) conundrum.</FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT size=3><FONT face="Times New Roman">Paiting!<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </SPAN></FONT></FONT></P>
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<P class=MsoNormal style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>Morgan Clippinger</FONT></P><BR><BR><B><I>Dennis Lee <brightrising@hotmail.com></I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Dave:<BR><BR>I had always assumed it was imported from the Japanese "fight-o!" which is<BR>used in the same context. I never fail to hear it at Japanese sporting<BR>events.<BR><BR>In English, when you have have a fight about to happen, chants of "fight!<BR>fight! fight!" from a gathering crowd are not uncommon. I'm purely<BR>speculating, but perhaps through some medium (most likely a movie) it<BR>crunched through the Japanese linguistic apparatus and then passed over to<BR>Korea. In any case, I am also curious about its origin.<BR><BR>Happy Holidays!<BR>Dennis Lee<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>----- Original Message ----- <BR>From: "David C. Kang" <DAVID.C.KANG@DARTMOUTH.EDU><BR>To: <KOREANSTUDIES@KOREAWEB.WS><BR>Sent: Saturday, December 27, 2003 11:49 AM<BR>Subject: [KS] word origins<BR><BR><BR>hi everyone:<BR><BR>Following on the scholarly discussion about "hanunim/etc.," I'd like<BR>to post a
less scholarly question.<BR><BR>During the holidays my family was talking about the origins of the<BR>Korean cheer "fighting!"<BR>I assume this is somehow an outgrowth of the 8th army -- but does<BR>anybody really know how this came to be used in Korea?<BR><BR>-Dave<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><p><hr SIZE=1>
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