Jai You! Chinese Cheer Goes Transcultural

You may hear it around campus near finals time. You may hear it during a game of basketball (even if it's street ball!) It is a term of encouragement that has just entered the lexicon of coolness on this side of the planet and is a volcanic search term on Google.

It's "Jai You!" and is akin to yelling GO! or KEEP IT UP! BE STRONG! or even GET FIRED UP! "Jai" is Chinese for add, and "You" is the word for fuel (or even oil-the petrol product is what's important.) Literally, you are saying more gas! more gas! It is quite common at soccer games, track meets, and anywhere you want to boost morale. It was even approved as a public cheer at the summer olympics. Thousands could be heard cheering Jai You, Jai You! (I hear there are even hand motions that go with it.) It's most popular on America's west coast, but it will soon make its way across the continent, so be ready.

The next time you need to give someone a lift, give them a positive comment, or just plain old cheer them up, give them a JAI YOU!