Japanese man sues NHK for overuse of foreign words

[BigInJapan]

Gifu man, 71, sues NHK for distress over its excess use of foreign words

A Gifu Prefecture man is suing NHK for mental distress allegedly caused by the broadcaster’s excessive use of foreign words.

Hoji Takahashi, 71, filed the complaint Tuesday with the Nagoya District Court and is seeking ¥1.41 million in damages.

Takahashi, an NHK subscriber, said the broadcaster has recently been loading its TV programs, whether news or entertainment, with loan words, such as “risuku” (risk), “toraburu” (trouble), and “shisutemu” (system). He also noted their use in NHK’s program titles, such as “BS Konsheruju” (“BS Concierge”).

Although many words like these have been adopted into Japanese, Takahashi said in his complaint that the deluge is causing him great emotional stress and accused NHK of irresponsibility by refusing to use native Japanese equivalents.
[Continued on JT]

[matsuki]

Grumpy old tard is probably racist as fuck but I still hope he wins...mispronounced adopted foreign words with misinterpreted meanings are fucking annoying.

[wagyl]

As I said before, "encore!" which is used in English to sound all sophisticated and continental but is not actually used in French in that situation. English does exactly the same thing. I think you (and Mr Takahashi) will feel happier overall if you accept that any language evolves over time and there is nothing an individual can do to hold back that tide. I do have some sympathy with your (and his) position: when there are perfectly appropriate native words the use of foreign words can be annoying, especially in a public broadcaster chartered to be widely accessible in its programming, but my annoyance has not reached the 'fucking' intensity.

[IparryU]

Grumpy old tard is probably racist as fuck but I still hope he wins...mispronounced adopted foreign words with misinterpreted meanings are fucking annoying.

while i do agree that misinterpreted English words are completely fucked over in pronunciation and meaning by the Japanese, I just dont agree with suing someone or an entity just because you don't like what they do...

but fuck NHK so I hope he wins.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I would be inclined to agree with wagyl in most respects except that Japanese, as with many mostly European languages that have national institutes to monitor and decree what is "official" language, has a tendency to use loan words for political purposes.
Japanese is perfectly capable of adapting to accommodate names for displeasing terms to have entered into public conscience in recent decades but chooses to use the foreign tongue to express them, and vice versa. Sekuhara, pawahara, heito rangeji, etc. are some examples. It works the other way, too, with sex slaves euphemistically referred to as ianfu, which is literally comfort women, which is comforting language for the average Japanese who is not told honestly about the way their grandpas, etc. treated these women, but not very comforting for the poor soul lying on her back and having her cunt pounded time and again by some poor soul dragged out of the paddy to sacrifice his life for the Emperor and cuntry.
I'm pretty sure regulated languages like French and German would do similar things. English is officially unregulated, but the whole political correctness movement is pretty much the same thing happening.

What the fuck am I trying to say? I hope this geezer beats NHK because they are fucken Orwellian in the use of the language.

[Coligny]

while i do agree that misinterpreted English words are completely fucked over in pronunciation and meaning by the Japanese, I just dont agree with suing someone or an entity just because you don't like what they do...

but fuck NHK so I hope he wins.

Public entity paid -partially- with his money... sort of the good setup for suing methink...

[Coligny]

I'm pretty sure regulated languages like French and German would do similar things. English is officially unregulated, but the whole political correctness movement is pretty much the same thing happening.

Don't know where you are going there, but the whole clusterfuck of creating new word out of the slaughter of two others on a daily basis and forgetting them every other month is a typical j-only thing, making it more a pidgin than a real language. European language with their tradition of yearly published official dictionnary can't suffer from this particular stupidity. Fashionable word of the week won't be included in the dictionnary, to fit in the criteria a word need to be at least used for 2 cycle of publication, not have a native equivalent and not be replaced by a native born new word. "Email" was used at first for its origin was "electronic mail", then when becoming more mainstream and less geek only the use of "courrier electronique" was... To be preferred, now the official choosen term is "courriel" and it's not even in all the dictionaries (the two big names "Larousse" and "Robert" sometimes enjoying to disagree)

[J.A.F.O]

I don't even understand these japanized English words. Then when I tell them to spell it out in context I figure out "that's freaking english" ... Whats worse is that sometimes they don't even know the word came from english, like its a japanese invented word.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

I don't even understand these japanized English words. Then when I tell them to spell it out in context I figure out "that's freaking english" ... Whats worse is that sometimes they don't even know the word came from english, like its a japanese invented word.

You may want to bear in mind that almost no English is "real" English. More than 95% of everyday contemporary English vocabulary derives from somewhere other than Old English.

[J.A.F.O]

Actually I did. Kinda sad the Cornish language in England is considered dead.

Have you ever watched the National Geographic series called "Light at the Edge of the World" Its actually interesting [translated: I didn't fall asleep while watching]

here is part of the description from National Geographic,

"Humanity may be losing half of its intellectual, social and spiritual legacy in a single generation, as the world loses a reported one language about every two weeks."

[Yokohammer]

Wot da fuk yooz all bangin onabout? Wot? Innit?

Depressing, isn't it. The English language as I knew it as a kid is certainly on its way out. Fortunately there are still quite a few hangers-on who can and do use it properly from time to time. Maybe my memory is getting fuzzy, but I seem to remember that just about everyone I went to school with -- I'd even go as far as to say just about everyone who went to school in around the same locales and era as myself -- could write reasonably well. There were shades of ability, of course, but nothing like the near illiteracy you see all over the web these days. Maybe it's just the web exposing more illiteracy, I don't know, but it doesn't bode well for the future of the language.

And the most depressing part is that it's not simply evolving or metamorphosing to keep up with the times, it's actually becoming poorer and less expressive. That's a real loss.

It almost seems as though the literacy curve, after having peaked somewhere early in the last century, is now on a steep section of its down curve.

[JAVGOD]

Fuck NHK. I cant wait for them to come around and try to collect their tv tax. Last time they come around my house.
I hope he wins.

[Yokohammer]

OK ... moving back in the direction of the OP.

I used to play sort of a "drinking game" with some Japanese friends at my local in Yokohama. All English words and derivatives were banned, and any time anyone used an import they had to put 100 yen in the pot for more rounds. My Japanese friends thought it was a stupid idea at first, confident that they'd be able to speak only Japanese. I knew better.

The upshoot is that it's almost impossible to speak "pure japanese," and there was much hilarity and face palming all around as they discovered how much of their language isn't originally Japanese at all. it was a hoot ... and we were never short of cash for more booze.

[wagyl]

Hammer, people have been complaining that the young folk these days don't talk or write properly since forever. It is only tangentially related, but this xkcd comic is an eye-opener.

And surely I am not the only one here to appreciate your 100% Anglo-saxon origin first sentence.

(I do actually agree that people are allowing their expression to get sloppy. I personally think it is the height of rudeness. Easy, slack writing makes for difficult reading. I mean, you can't even tell if someone is asking for a picture of a hamburger or a full illustrated menu. Time to duck!)

[Samurai_Jerk]

OK ... moving back in the direction of the OP.

I used to play sort of a "drinking game" with some Japanese friends at my local in Yokohama. All English words and derivatives were banned, and any time anyone used an import they had to put 100 yen in the pot for more rounds. My Japanese friends thought it was a stupid idea at first, confident that they'd be able to speak only Japanese. I knew better.

The upshoot is that it's almost impossible to speak "pure japanese," and there was much hilarity and face palming all around as they discovered how much of their language isn't originally Japanese at all. it was a hoot ... and we were never short of cash for more booze.

I hope you also banned all words of Chinese origin to be consistent.

[Yokohammer]

OK ... moving back in the direction of the OP.

I used to play sort of a "drinking game" with some Japanese friends at my local in Yokohama. All English words and derivatives were banned, and any time anyone used an import they had to put 100 yen in the pot for more rounds. My Japanese friends thought it was a stupid idea at first, confident that they'd be able to speak only Japanese. I knew better.

The upshoot is that it's almost impossible to speak "pure japanese," and there was much hilarity and face palming all around as they discovered how much of their language isn't originally Japanese at all. it was a hoot ... and we were never short of cash for more booze.

I hope you also banned all words of Chinese origin to be consistent.

I thought it would be more fun if there were at least a few words left to have a conversation with.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Wot da fuk yooz all bangin onabout? Wot? Innit?

Depressing, isn't it. The English language as I knew it as a kid is certainly on its way out. Fortunately there are still quite a few hangers-on who can and do use it properly from time to time. Maybe my memory is getting fuzzy, but I seem to remember that just about everyone I went to school with -- I'd even go as far as to say just about everyone who went to school in around the same locales and era as myself -- could write reasonably well. There were shades of ability, of course, but nothing like the near illiteracy you see all over the web these days. Maybe it's just the web exposing more illiteracy, I don't know, but it doesn't bode well for the future of the language.

And the most depressing part is that it's not simply evolving or metamorphosing to keep up with the times, it's actually becoming poorer and less expressive. That's a real loss.

It almost seems as though the literacy curve, after having peaked somewhere early in the last century, is now on a steep section of its down curve.

No. It's not depressing. It's simply the passage of time. Languages are living creatures (though bureaucratic processes like the Europeans and Japanese love <see Coligny's post above> do their best to stifle this) and can't be bridled. They are free and uncontrollable. That's why I always snigger at the inferiority complex-fueled attempts of the Japanese to have some of their (non-dirty) words adopted by other languages (hentai and bukkake as it's used in English don't count). Languages can be as feisty as a caged tiger or as staid as a devout nun. That's the beauty of them and why those language institutes are just racist wastes of taxpayers' money.
Personally, I'd love everyone to write in a style that pleases me. But I'd also like free blow jobs at will, too. Aint gonna happen. It's sad, but reality. It's doubly sad to see the demise of Strine, which really was rich before the effects of TV became widespread, but that shouldn't detract from the beauty of the language. I would hazard a guess and say there's more writing going on now in English than at any time in history. The law of averages says something good will have to come out of it.....

[Yokohammer]

And of course the law of averages is ... a load of hooey.

What I'm talking about is the inability to spell or construct a sentence that conveys an idea with accuracy and efficiency.

Language evolves, and it is free to do so, but to me "evolution" implies some sort of improvement. I'm trying to be open-minded about this, but when so many people are writing "loose" when they mean "lose," for example, we have a problem. Those words have different meanings, and "loose" does not evolve to mean "lose." Just one example, of course.

If I was seeing the language flowering with new expressive freedom, or something to that effect, I wouldn't mind one bit. Unfortunately what I'm seeing is a stunted, hobbled effigy of the language that is deficient in expressive capability.

Maybe in a few hundred years ... can't wait that long.

And maybe I'm just a crusty old fart. But at least I'm upholding an age-old tradition of crusty old-fartdom.

EDIT: I should probably add that since much of my recent reading is centered around authors like Evelyn Waugh and Scott F. Fitzgerald ... yeah, I probably have a severe crusty old fart bias going on.

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

And of course the law of averages is ... a load of hooey.

What I'm talking about is the inability to spell or construct a sentence that conveys an idea with accuracy and efficiency.

Language evolves, and it is free to do so, but to me "evolution" implies some sort of improvement. I'm trying to be open-minded about this, but when so many people are writing "loose" when they mean "lose," for example, we have a problem. Those words have different meanings, and "loose" does not evolve to mean "lose." Just one example, of course.

If I was seeing the language flowering with new expressive freedom, or something to that effect, I wouldn't mind one bit. Unfortunately what I'm seeing is a stunted, hobbled effigy of the language that is deficient in expressive capability.

Maybe in a few hundred years ... can't wait that long.

And maybe I'm just a crusty old fart. But at least I'm upholding an age-old tradition of crusty old-fartdom.

EDIT: I should probably add that since much of my recent reading is centered around authors like Evelyn Waugh and Scott F. Fitzgerald ... yeah, I probably have a severe crusty old fart bias going on.

I'm not unsympathetic. Nor do I lack empathy for the argument that correct punctuation and grammar show consideration for readers. And I understand your position even more considering your reading matter.
But, as far as the world's concerned, "you're a looser, dude!"
(Related story: I have recently regained contact with a childhood friend who probably did as much as much to foster the love I have for the language as much as anybody else did. He was a superb wordsmith as a kid and taught me a lot about how to manipulate language, which I did as a career for decades. Imagine the shock I felt, then, when he addressed me as "dude." I let it pass, but it symbolized a lot to me, especially about the demise of suburban Australian slang. So it goes....)

[Yokohammer]

... But, as far as the world's concerned, "you're a looser, dude!" ...

Well, if that's what the world thinks, they can go screw there selves.

So their.

[GomiGirl]

Hammer and SDH - I luv youse guyz.

Ah well, in my world, new words just mean more app updates.

Aside: Hammer and SDH - do you have kids? Do you police their English grammar and spelling?

[Screwed-down Hairdo]

Aside: Hammer and SDH - do you have kids? Do you police their English grammar and spelling?

I have kids who grew up as native English speakers in an English-speaking environment and kids who are native-Japanese speakers in a Japanese-speaking environment.
I generally policed their language use pretty strictly when I could, but I was/am a fucken awful parent and was rarely, if ever, around.I was, nonetheless, pretty insistent on using proper and polite English (of the "do as I say, not as I do" school of instruction). That's probably another reason why they all think I'm a fucken arsehole. But, I like the idea of using language properly as a courtesy to those you deal with. Many people don't seem to notice, though.

[Yokohammer]

No kids here ... which is probably why I have this pent-up need to police everyone else's Engrish.

[matsuki]

As I said before, "encore!" which is used in English to sound all sophisticated and continental but is not actually used in French in that situation. English does exactly the same thing. I think you (and Mr Takahashi) will feel happier overall if you accept that any language evolves over time and there is nothing an individual can do to hold back that tide. I do have some sympathy with your (and his) position: when there are perfectly appropriate native words the use of foreign words can be annoying, especially in a public broadcaster chartered to be widely accessible in its programming, but my annoyance has not reached the 'fucking' intensity.

NAO....I totally get what you're sayin' but as Coligny pointed out, these "new" words are coming out in Japanese almost weekly (and promoted by the media/advertising) with completely retarded reasoning...in 2013, whereas encore and other such import words have been used in English waaay before the net was there to point out the mistakes in realtime. Natural progression of import words, like SDH said, is inevitable, but the way it happens in Japan is manufactured....and really poorly at that. Anyhow, it is fucking annoying to me though I'm not crazy enough to file a lawsuit or do anything about it other than tease Japanese who use the words. Leave that to guys like this who have more time than they know what to do with.

[legion]

I don't even understand these japanized English words. Then when I tell them to spell it out in context I figure out "that's freaking english" ... Whats worse is that sometimes they don't even know the word came from english, like its a japanese invented word.

You may want to bear in mind that almost no English is "real" English. More than 95% of everyday contemporary English vocabulary derives from somewhere other than Old English.

like this ?

[Russell]

Wot da fuk yooz all bangin onabout? Wot? Innit?

Depressing, isn't it. The English language as I knew it as a kid is certainly on its way out. Fortunately there are still quite a few hangers-on who can and do use it properly from time to time. Maybe my memory is getting fuzzy, but I seem to remember that just about everyone I went to school with -- I'd even go as far as to say just about everyone who went to school in around the same locales and era as myself -- could write reasonably well. There were shades of ability, of course, but nothing like the near illiteracy you see all over the web these days. Maybe it's just the web exposing more illiteracy, I don't know, but it doesn't bode well for the future of the language.

And the most depressing part is that it's not simply evolving or metamorphosing to keep up with the times, it's actually becoming poorer and less expressive. That's a real loss.

It almost seems as though the literacy curve, after having peaked somewhere early in the last century, is now on a steep section of its down curve.

Hmm, according to this article, Twitter and Facebook have actually improved writing skills, since it forces people to write in a simple and easy-to-understand way. At least, that's how it seems to work for Japanese...

[Russell]

Back to the OP, but I can't stop wondering what's next?

Coligny suing NHK for using too many Japanese words?

[Yokohammer]

Hmm, according to this article, Twitter and Facebook have actually improved writing skills, since it forces people to write in a simple and easy-to-understand way. At least, that's how it seems to work for Japanese...

Now there's a hopeful thought.

If that is true then we are not, as I had assumed, plummeting toward oblivion on the literacy curve. It might mean that the advent of the Internet has affected a last-minute pull-out, so that we're once again climbing towards literary enlightenment after a close call with cultural ruin.

[Taro Toporific]

Court nixes lawsuit against NHK for using foreign words
Japan Times | June 13, 2014
The Nagoya District Court has turned down a damages suit filed by a 72-year-old man who argued that NHK caused him emotional distress by using too many foreign words in its programs.
The ¥1.41 million lawsuit against the public broadcaster was brought by Hoji Takahashi, a resident of Kani, Gifu Prefecture, who leads a group called Nihongo wo Taisetsunisuru-kai, which translates roughly as Society that Appreciates the Japanese Language.
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