Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Chinese ·1850s
Shanghai
from 上海
- Meaning
- To kidnap or coerce someone into service, especially as a ship's crewman.
- Source word
- 上海
- Route into English
- The port city Shanghai → English verb in 19th-century San Francisco, where sailors were drugged and forced aboard ships bound for long China-trade voyages. The city name became the verb for the practice.
- Arrived
- 1850s
From Chinese
Trade English from the South China Sea ports (especially Hokkien-speaking Xiamen and Canton) seeded the early borrowings; 20th-century diplomacy and military contact added the rest.
English borrows.
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