YEN

Wild Word Friday!

It probably won’t surprise you to know that the English language borrowed the word YEN from the Chinese language, the Cantonese dialect. To the ears of an English-speaker, YEN sounds Chinese. During the mid-1800s when Chinese immigration to the United States peaked, they brought the word in-yan with them. In-yan means craving for opium (in- opium, yan – craving) , and the 1700s and 1800s were a time in  history when opium addiction was, unfortunately, a world-wide epidemic.

Eventually, the word was Anglicized to yen-yen, and then to YEN and generalized to mean a mild craving for anything. So there we have a sad history of a little word that no longer carries the implication of intense, uncontrollable need.

Taking YEN in its current meaning, is there something you have a YEN for? (For me, it has to be chocolate cherry candies!)

Blessings,

Sue

(Photograph from Wikipedia.)