"Add oil" is a

Hong Kong English Hong Kong English is a variety of the English language native to Hong Kong. The variant is either a learner interlanguage or emergent variant, primarily a result of Hong Kong's British overseas territory history and the influence of native ...

expression used as an encouragement and support to a person. Derived from the Chinese phrase '' Gayau'' (or ''Jiayou''; ), the expression is literally translated from the Cantonese phrase. It is originated in Hong Kong and is commonly used by bilingual Hong Kong speakers. "Add oil" can be roughly translated as "Go for it". Though it is often described as "the hardest to translate well", the literal translation is the result of

Chinglish Chinglish is slang for spoken or written English language that is either influenced by a Chinese language, or is poorly translated. In Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong and Guangxi, the term "Chinglish" refers mainly to Cantonese-influenced English. ...

and was added to the ''

Oxford English Dictionary The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' (''OED'') is the first and foundational historical dictionary of the English language, published by Oxford University Press (OUP). It traces the historical development of the English language, providing a co ...

'' in 2018.

Etymology and history

In Cantonese'', gā'' () means "add", and ''yáu'' () means "oil" or "fuel". It is cited that the Cantonese term originated as a cheer at the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

during the 1960s. It was used to imply stepping harder on the gas pedal, giving the car more speed and power to accelerate. It is also a metaphor of injecting fuel into a tank. It was then used as an "all purpose cheer", and used exclusively in both

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

and

Cantonese Chinese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

. The romanized Cantonese ''ga yau'' and literal translation phrase ''add oil'' was commonly used since then due to the large number of bilingual Hongkongers. Instead of using the romanised Cantonese, it is reported that the English phrase was used more commonly by young Hongkongers. The increasing use of text-based online communications also contributed to the usage of the English expression. In October 2018, due to its popularity in English speakers, "Add oil!" was officially added to the online edition of the ''Oxford English Dictionary''. The entry recognises it as Hong Kong English, and verified that the usage of the phrase can be traced back to 1964.

Usage

The phrase is a versatile expression typically used in encouraging and supporting speeches. For example, "Add oil, you can do it!". It is also commonly used during sports matches, to encourage athletes to perform well. The phrase gained its international attention when it was used in the

Umbrella revolution A series of sit-in street protests, often called the Umbrella Revolution and sometimes used interchangeably with Umbrella Movement, or Occupy Movement, occurred in Hong Kong from 26 September to 15 December 2014. The protests began after th ...

in 2014. Local artists set up the " add oil machine", a wall along Gloucester Road. It was used to encourage international supporters to put down supporting messages to the protesters. The term was also used extensively during the Hong Kong protests in 2019–20. Both ''Add oil'' in English and ''Gayau'' in Cantonese was written in notes stuck to Lennon Walls as messages in support.

Related terms

Elsewhere in

East Asia East Asia is the eastern region of Asia, which is defined in both Geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The modern State (polity), states of East Asia include China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. ...

, terms used similarly to ''add oil'' are the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

'' Ganbatte!'' (),

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

'' Paiting!'' (), and

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

References

{{reflist Cantonese words and phrases English phrases Culture of Hong Kong Chinglish