Max,
I had this discussion with Bridget (the one who lives in Oz) a few months back, and I brought up the same questions you just did... She had some answers, I recall, but it still seems like faulty transliteration to me. Look at feng shui , for example. It's pronounced "fung shway." I beseech someone with a faster computer to dig up the thread. It was here in Miscellany.