Chinese word for “crisis”
The Chinese word for “crisis” (simplified Chinese: 危机; traditional Chinese: 危機; pinyin: wēijī; Wade–Giles: wei-chi) is frequently invoked in motivational speaking along with the statement that the two characters it is composed of represent “danger” and “opportunity.” Some Western linguists consider this analysis fallacious, arguing that the character jī alone does not necessarily mean “opportunity.” […] The use of the term probably gained momentum when John F. Kennedy delivered a speech in Indianapolis on April 12, 1959:
“When written in Chinese the word crisis is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity.”
