As we enjoy the Beijing Olympics, let's watch closely to see how several Chinese words flipped like gymnasts into English.

First up is "tea," who starts her routine in the Amoy dialect of Chinese as "te," leaps into the Malay "teh," hops into the Dutch "thee" and then sticks the landing as "tea" in English during the 1600s. Score: 9.5 with extra credit for versatility.

"Gung-ho" begins in 1938 as the Mandarin "kung-ho" ("to work together"), short for "Zhonggu? Gongy? H?zu? Sh?" (Chinese Industrial Cooperatives Society). During World War II, he vaults muscularly into the pep talks of Lt. Col. Evans Carlson of the U.S. Marines, who is in China organizing the Second Raider Battalion and admires the spirit of the Chinese.

Carlson's troops begin calling themselves the "Gung-ho Battalion," but when other marines regard their swagger as obnoxious, "gung-ho" loses his balance and falls into being a synonym for "overly enthusiastic." Score: 6.6 with point reduction for acquiring a negative connotation.

Like "gung-ho," "tycoon" takes a bold, military approach. He begins in Mandarin as "tachun" (great ruler) but then flips bravely into Japanese as "taikun."

When U.S. Commodore Matthew Perry steams into the Japanese harbor of Uraga in 1853, "taikun" startles everyone by jumping onto the deck of Perry's ship and refusing to leave. So Perry brings him back to the United States as "tycoon," which comes to mean "a top business leader." Score: 8.8 with extra credit for persistence.

Another "oon" word, "typhoon," turns in a characteristically destructive performance. Mounting the bar as the Cantonese "taa?fung" ("great wind"), she notices that her nearby competitor, the similar sounding Arabic "tufan" ("violent flood, hurricane") has already entered English as "touffon."

With Tonya Harding-like intensity, she knocks "touffon" off balance, changing her into "typhoon." No score. Disqualified for assaulting fellow competitor.

And what of "china" itself, our word for fine porcelain or ceramic ware? She mounts the beam — delicately — as "Quin," the name of the dynasty that ruled China from 221 to 206 B.C., then moves ever so carefully into the Persian word "cinah" ("Chinese people").

Because the Persians prize porcelain imported from "cinah," they dub this treasure "cinah" as well. And "cinah," of course, also makes a soft landing in English as "China," the name of the country. Score: 9.2 with extra credit for finesse.

Rob Kyff, a teacher and writer in West Hartford, Conn., invites your language sightings. Send your reports of misuse and abuse, as well as examples of good writing, via e-mail to Wordguy@aol.com or by regular mail to Rob Kyff, Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. To find out more about Rob Kyff and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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