Where does “giật gân” come from?

giật gân (Vietnamese) comes from Vietnamese gần, from Proto-Vietic t-kaːn, from Old Chinese 肝.

giật gân (Vietnamese): exciting; thrilling; sensational

Definitions

  1. exciting; thrilling; sensational

Ancestry of “giật gân”, step by step

giật gân traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Vietnamese gần

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesegầnnear; nearby; close; nearly; almost
2Proto-Vietict-kaːn
3Old Chinese

via Vietnamese giật

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Vietnamesegiậtto pull forcibly; to snatch; to abruptly move...
Every word from Old Chinese