japanglish, japanese english

Japanglish

Many of you who have been here probably noticed how abundantly the English language is used here in Japan. No matter where you go, you see signs, billboards, or people wearing clothes with English words written on them, some of which don't make sense or sound strange. It is said foreign words make up about 10% of the words in the Japanese language dictionary, but some of them have totally lost their original meaning and become what is called "Japanglish"or"Japlish". Shown in this page are just a few examples of Japanglish.

Naive	English: lacking sophistication Japanese: sensitive, delicate or shy In English it is not flattering to describe someone as being "naive". However, in Japanese, "naive " doesn't necessarily convey the negative message. It means sensitive, delicate, fragile, innocent or shy.
Punk	English: hoodlum Japanese: flat tire I find this one very amusing. The word "punk" in Japanese (or the word pronounced as "punk" in Japanese) means " flat tire." How did it come to have this meaning, I wonder... Oh, by the way, the word also refers to punk music just like in ENGLISH. Note: A friend of mine told me the other day that the word might have come from "punctured tire"
Pine juice	English: ? Japanese: pineapple juice Although many say "pineapple juice" without shortening it,still lots of people shorten it and just say "pine juice" when referring to pineapple juice.
Nighter	English:? Japanese: night game In English if "er" is added to a verb, it often makes the verb a noun that refers to a person who does that action. For example, the verb "teach" becomes a noun meaning a person who teaches (teacher!) if "er" is added to the word "teach." Also "er" can be added to adjectives to make the comparison form. (tall ---> taller). However, someone in Japan added "er" to the noun "night." Nighter! It means a baseball game played at night! Note: I just found out that there is an English word "all nighter"
Salary man	English: ? Japanese: company employees I have seen some English books use this word, and to some of you the word is as English as karaoke, sushi and ninja. Just as information for those of you who don't know what it means, the word refers to a company employee.. or people who work for companies and get a salary from them.
Glamour	English: attractive, famous Japanese: voluptuous This word is used as an adjective and ONLY to describe women. It means "sexy" or "voluptuous".
Service	English: service Japanese: give away, discounts "Service" in Japan often refers to giveaways or discounts that people in business give to their customers. For example, you might hear a conversation between a customer and a shop owner that goes like this: Customer: kore ikura desuka? (How much is this?) Shop owner: 1000 yen desu.(It is 1000 yen) Customer: 1000 yen desuka? Chotto takai desune. (1000 yen? That is a little expensive.) Shop owner :Soreja, 100 yen sabis (service) simasuyo (Well, then, I will give you a 100 yen discount.)
Morning service	English: time of worship conducted at a church on Sunday Japanese: morning special Here is another word that is related to service. This word refers to the morning special served in restaurants in America. I decided to post this because I thought this example would show a sharp contrast between the original meaning and the meaning that it has taken on since it has been adopted.
OL (Office lady)	English: ? Japanese: women engaging in clerical work in white collar work place I heard that this word is used commonly by the Western media in explanations of the treatment of female workers in Japanese companies.
Rough	English: crude behavior Japanese: casually dressed This Japanglish "rough"refers to the way someone is dressed. If you hear someone say "Kare wa rafu(rough) na kakko o shiteimasune." It means "He is dressed casually, isn't he?"

Other Japanglish:
Comments will be added soon.

-	Japanglish	English	-	Japanglish	English
-	stadium jumper	team jacket	-	american coffee	weak coffee
-	trainer	sweat shirt	-	jet coaster	a roller coaster
-	claim	complaints made by customers in business	-	game center	video arcade
-	winker	turn signal	-	back number	back issue
-	backmirror	rear-view mirror	-	deep kiss	french kiss
-	handle	steering wheel	-	guardman	security guard
-	side brake	parking brake	-	tv talent	tv personality
-	front glass	windshield	-	man to man	one on one
-	jar	rice cooker	-	feminist	chivalrous/ kind to women
-	consent	outlet, (wall) socket	-	flying	false start
-	soft cream	soft serve ice cream	-	coca-cola light	diet coke
-	yankee	young punk, delinquent person	-	fried potato (potato fry)	french fries
-	part	part time job usually held by housewives	-	viking	buffet
-	trump	playing cards	-	free dial	toll free number
-	pocket bell	pager/beeper	-	wideshow	morning show
-	after service /after care	service after the sales	-	sharp pencil	mechanical pencil
-	mansion	condominium	-	cunning	cheating in an exam
-	my home	owned house	-	chuck/fastener	zipper
-	rinse	conditioner	-	smart	thin/slim
-	stove	heater	-	health meter	scale/measure
-	family computer(fami com)	nintendo	-	silver seats	priority seats
-	super fami com	super nintendo	-	cost down	cost reduction
-	push phone	touch tone phone	-	miss contest	beatuy pageant
-	one room mansion	studio apartment	-	gasoline stand	gas station
-	order made	custom made,/made-to-order	-	golden hour	prime time
-	manicure	nail polish	-	high socks	knee-high socks
-	cooler	air conditioner	-	morning call	wake-up call
-	free size	one size fits all	-	mis	mistake, error
-	pick up	pick out (select or choose)	-	key holder	key chain
-	cool	strong, silent type of people	-	showwindow	showcase
-	accel	accelerator	-	pocket bell	beeper/pager
-	number plate	license plate	-	proportion	figure
-	side mirror	side-view mirror	-	panty stocking	pantyhose
-	dump car	dump truck	-	business hotel	no-frills hotel/budget hotel
-	resort mansion	resort condominium	-	doctor stop	doctor's orders (not to do something)
-	recycle shop	thrift shop/secondhand store	-	dust chute	trash chute
-	mixer	blender	-	solar system	solar heating system
-	sports test	physical fitness test	-	stand play	grandstand play
-	skinship	physical contact	-	season off	off-season
-	summer time	daylight saving time	-	sand bag	punching bag
-	coin laundry	laundromat	-	career up	improve one's career
-	office love	office romance	-	dry (when describing a person)	businesslike
-	image up	improvement of one's image	-	winning run	victory run
-	about (when describing a person)	careless/sloppy/not meticulous	-	mother complex	oedipus complex/mama's boy
-	loose/lose (when describing a person)	lax	-	one man (when describing a person)	dictator (someone who makes important decisions without consulting anyone)
-	veteran	old hand/old timer	-	case by case	It depends.
-	home helper	visiting nurse	-	baby car	stroller
-	bed town	bedroom town/bedroom community/commuter town	-	episode	anecdote/interesting story
-	baton touch	have someone take over a job (a task)	-	paper driver	inexperienced driver
-	catch ball	catch	-	pension	western style small inn
-	three size	measurements	-	image change	new look
-	home doctor	family doctor	-	boom	fad
-	playboy	ladies' man	-	shoe cream	cream puff
-	sports drink	isotonic drink	-	ball pen	ballpoint pen
-	apart	apartment	-	no sleeve	sleeveless

Baseball:

-	Japanglish	English	-	Japanglish	English
-	dead ball	hit by a pitch	-	back screen	centerfield screen
-	top batter	lead-off batter	-	running home run	inside-the-park home run
-	full base	bases are loaded	-	four ball	walk
-	back net	backstop	-	sayonara hit	winning hit/ game-ending hit
-	game set	the game is over	-	sign	signal

Visitors' voices

Here is a Japanglish usage that I've noticed. In the puzzle magazines
I buy, most of the pages have pictures of kitchen items, stationary,
etc., labelled "Present" (English meaning: a gift given for a special
occasion such as Christmas, a wedding or birthday, to someone one
knows personally. It is not used for gifts to strangers or advertising
giveaways.) I assume that the magazine pictures are showing what we
would call a "Prize" (something given as a reward for winning a contest
or game).

Teri Pettit

Hi!
I've enjoyed reading your site, and wanted to contribute something. My
girlfriend (nihon-jin) always calls earings - earpiercings.
Matane!

Kevin Ford

Additional Japanglish for you...

You didn't mention "pasokon" / "personal computer" which is very common.

Or how about "version up" / "upgrade"?

Also "bike" / "motorcycle"? (In U.S. "bike" means "bicycle").

Mike Chachic

Probably the funniest I've run across is a large, modern building in
northern Osaka bearing the proud sign of "Hotel New Archaic." (For non
native English speakers, 'archaic' means "ancient/obsolete" which makes
it the "Hotel new ancient"???)

As for "punk" for flat tire, it does make a sort of sense. Though it
doesn't refer to "punctuated", which means "has punctuation (!?.,)",
but, rather, to "punctured" which means "to have been pricked or pierced
by a small hole."

Wolf

While traveling in Hiroshima, the warning note on the side of the hair
dryer provided in the hotel room says " Not to be used for the other
purpose." WHAT other purpose I want to know!

On the sidewalk just past the Kamiyacho station is a beauty parlor that
has a sign up saying " Afternoon Blow Special"

On a menu in The Ginza I saw " Bar B Que Lips"

On a door of a pachinko parlor in Shimbashi " Just give this a Paul. It
may be the Paul of your life"

What i have found interesting is the use of the words "Menu" and "Fair"
The menu is for anything that shows the services provided - The menu of
the services of a beauty parlor for example. And "fair" is used to
describe an event or a sale " 20% off fair" "Summer fair" .We first
thought this place was loads of fun with all the fairs happening !

Tom

Thanks Jun,
Your site really made me remember Japan and smile. :)
I used to eat many of those products and thought they were delicious despite
their odd names. One of my favorites treats (which I always ask my Japanese
friends to bring me) is "Melty Kiss". The name is a little strange but quite
appropriate. I gave some to my sister and she said,"That's exactly what it
is. A melty kiss."By the way, regarding movies, how about "A League of Their Own"
which came out as "Pretty League" in Japan. If I remember any more I will e-mail
you. Thanks again for the pleasant memories.

Andrew Osanka

About your "Japanglish" section: there is a Japanese mall (Yaohan) a
few miles away in New Jersey, and we have a great time in the grocery
store there, which carries such amazing products as Vermont Curry
(Vermont being a conservative northern New England state where it is
highly unlikely that anyone eats curry), Men's Pocky (as if just being
Pocky weren't enough of a problem) and my mother's particular favorite,
which is a bit too naughty to post -- Beyond Seven condoms (boastful
much?). One week, the mall sent me a flyer advertising a "JEWRY
SALE." It took me five minutes to realize it was not a religious slur. Also,
years ago, the first Hitachi rice cooker I ever had came with instructions
that implored me, whatever I did, not to deform my base.

afw

Dear Jun San,
You have a fascinating site! I'm Japanese living in the US, and when I
visit home I am often amused by those Japanglish words. How about "Rinse"
for hair conditioner? And "Renewal" for refurbished or renovated, like when
an ad says "Renewal Sale", they mean that they are having a sale because
they reopened after a renovation? " Live" (as in "shown live on TV) means
a concert in Japanglish. I'll be in Japan for the holiday season so I'll be looking
out for more of these.

unknown

I visited Sapporo in May and I saw a Japanese fast food restaraunt that
served American stlye fried chicken. The name made me laugh....

Chicken Pecker's Impossible!!! But true.

Eric McMillen

Back in the golden days of radio there was a radio play program which featured "Mr. First Nighter".

A first nighter was someone who always attended the gala first night of a new Broadway production, usually in formal dress and rich.

WBC

Jun-san!
Love your site. Visited it off a link from Camworld.

When I lived in Kurashiki many years ago, I saw a food cart in the old
town, tourist district that offered "Potato Fly" which was, naturally
enough, what we'd call french fries.

Ah! Nippon, the land of my birth!

Ric Manhard

Please note there is a phrase in English taken from Spanish "mano a mano"
that literally means "hand to hand" (like "hand to hand combat") but is
taken by many English speakers to mean "man to man" because of the eye-rhyme
between "man" and "mano."

This error is reinforced by comedians who use the phrase "womano a womano"
to mean a fight between two women, "boyo a boyo" a fight between two boys,
"girlo a girlo" a fight between two girls...ad infinitum, to the extremely
silly constructions like "trucko a trucko " for a demolition derby between
two trucks.

cjs

I was struck by how many of your examples of "japanglish"
are actually British-American differences in terminology.
Most Americans, seeing these words used for the things
you identify them as in "japanglish", would assume the
writer was British:

jumper (but for a sweater, not a jacket)
trainer (sneakers rather than track suit)
back number
TV talent
rinse

- KM

Hey, I just got back from Kobe and I bought some things for my daughter for her birthday. I just have to share this with you! On one of the cards I bought her is written:

Happy Birthday
I wish you many happy comes throughout your future life.

Junya what is a "happy come"??!!, let alone one's "future life"! I almost died laughing! Love it, and she will get a huge kick out of it, I am sure!

Kay

Love your "Japanglish" compilation. On my last trip to Japan, every BBQ restaurant was proudly serving "hormone" beef. Strangely enough, I never got around to trying this appetizing-sounding delicacy.

Andrea C.

Your participation is vital in making this page interesting, so If you know
of any other interesting Japanglish, or if you have seen funny English
while you were here, please let me know. I will post them here.

Movie Titles

Hollywood movies are extremely popular in Japan. As a matter of fact they make up about 70% of all movies played in theaters and rented at rental video stores in Japan. But how is this related to Japanglish? Well, Japanglish have come to exist because some people in Japan modified English words and turned them into something different. And the same kind of practice can be seen in the movies titles, but this time the meaning of the English words don't get changed but the titles themselves are changed so that they will be esier for Japanese people to understand. Personally I have had conversations like below with people from the U.S.A

Me: Do you like movies?
Friend: Yeah.
Me: Have you seen the movie "Fake"?
Friend: Fake?
Me: Yes. The one with Al Pacino and Jonny Depp in it.
Friend: Oh, you mean "Donnie Brassco"!
Me: ………….

-	English Title	Japanese Title	-	English Title	Japanese Title
-	Jerry Maguire	Agent	-	Point Break	Heart Blue
-	Kiss the girls	Collector	-	Point of no return	Assassin
-	The Edge	Wild	-	The Pallbearer	Happy Blue
-	Donnie Brasco	Fake	-	A Single White Female	Roommate
-	The Associate	Chance	-	The Buddy Factor	The Producer
-	The Devil's Own	Devil	-	The Mirror Has Two Faces	Manhattan Rapsody
-	The Net	The Internet	-	The Piano	Piano Lesson
-	What's Eatin Gilbert Grape	Gilbert Grape	-	The Color of Money	Hustler 2
-	In the line of fire	The secret service	-	Mrs. Doubtfire	Mrs. Doubt
-	Enemy of the State	Enemy of America	-	The Karate Kid	Best Kid
-	Pleasantville	Color of Heart	-	The Real MCoy	Blondee
-	Deep Rising	The Greed	-	Mr. Wrong	Mr. Crazy
-	Good night moon	Stepmom	-	Primary Colors	Perfect Couple
-	Ally McBeal	Ally My Love	-	Pirates of Silicon Valley	Battle of Silicon Valley
-	The Siege	Marshal Law	-	Hedious Kinky	Good Bye Morroco
-	Runaway Bride	Pretty Bride	-	Simply Irresistible	Vanilla Fog
-	What women want	Heart of woman

A few pictures of a video rental store.

Interesting Food Product Names

One of the great sources of funny English is food products especially drinks and sweets. When you have some time to kill, why don't you take a look around in a supermarket.. Those products might keep you entertained


A drink with a name that includes the word "sweat", a friend of mine said, is a bit weird.	Tiger Woods is on the TV commercial of this coffee.	I really don't think the name "BOSS" is good because no one wants to be reminded of their boss.:-)	CALPIS...

Stick-shaped biscuits covered with chocolate and almond.	ANGEL RELIEF. Cockies covered with chocolate on one side.	Chocolates with fruits tasting paste in them.	Creamer named CREAP... No..not CREEP... :-))
		In spite of the funny names, these products all taste good! Yes, I am serious!
Collon... No...not colon.... I really do think they should use Japanese characters instead of alphabets. This sweets, by the way, tastes great!	A chocolate named CRUNKY.... Oh, boy...

If you would like to see more "Japanglish", don't miss Steve's world !
His site contains much much MORE Japanglish! Make sure to visit"Engrish from you!"
It's HILARIOUS!

Your participation is vital in making this page interesting, so If you know
of any other interesting Japanglish, or if you have seen funny English
while you were here, please let me know. I will post them here.

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