Japanese words in English

[akatsuka]

I've thought up a list of words that are in the English dictionary but derive from the Japanese language.
(I've got too much time on my hands, I'm doing a degree in London...)

Below is my list.... Can you extend it? One catch - they HAVE to be in the dictionary, doesnt count even if the thickest british girl/guy understands it, if its not in the dictionary..!

Karaoke
Tsunami
Geisha
Judo
Karate
Kendo
Kamikaze
Kimono
Typhoon
Sushi
Samurai
Sake

help me name more...

thanks

(dont ask why...)

[Samurai_Jerk]

Typhoon is not of Japanese origin. It comes from Chinese via Arabic.

tycoon
honcho
shogun
kudzu
rickshaw
sumo
jujitsu
Nippon

[maninjapan]

I thought rickshaw was an English translation?

how abotu the infamous Rikishi

Satsuma
Kobe beef
radio

[Charles]

I found this word in the dictionary:

Japan

[kurohinge1]

I found this word in the dictionary:

Japan

But it has to derive from the Japanese language.

"Japan" reportedly came from the Chinese word for the country, via Marco Polo, and is what FG's call the country (like "Holland" for the Netherlands).

. . . [Marco Polo] also refers to Japan by its Chinese name "Zipang" or Cipangu. This is usually considered the first mention of Japan in Western literature . . . more

[Samurai_Jerk]

I thought rickshaw was an English translation?

I'm not sure what you mean by that.

Here's another:

banzai

[maraboutslim]

He means there is no such word "rickshaw" in Japanese. The final "w" should be a pretty good clue.

[GuyJean]

tofu
zen
tatami
wasabi
katana
dojo
ichiban
sensei
dan
bonsai
mottainai

GJ

[baka tono]

Theres a huge list here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japanese_origin

[Samurai_Jerk]

He means there is no such word "rickshaw" in Japanese. The final "w" should be a pretty good clue.

Yeah, but there is the word jinrikisha (人]rickshaw (plural rickshaws) or ricksha (plural rickshas)


noun

Definition:

1. two-wheeled passenger vehicle: a small vehicle with two wheels and a seat for passengers, pulled along by somebody walking in front of it, used especially in South and East Asia


2. three-wheeled passenger vehicle: a small three-wheeled vehicle, like a tricycle with a seat at the back for passengers, that is driven by somebody sitting at the front and pedaling


[Late 19th century. Shortening of Japanese jinrikisha < jin "man" + riki "strength" + sha "vehicle"]
[/quote]

[Samurai_Jerk]

Theres a huge list here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japanese_origin

I can't believe they include skosh on that list. Just because they use it in Hawaii doesn't mean it's English.

[Western All Stars]

"Obi" shows up a lot in crossword puzzles, go figure.

[Mulboyne]

"Satsuma" is an odd one since virtually no-one in Japan will realize you are talking about mikan when you use the word. I have a simliar problem if I talk about netsuke. As I'm floundering to describe what I'm referring to, people always propose a different word which escapes me now. That might be down to my pronunciation or a lack of familiarity with the subject on the part of the listener.

Arguably, a word like "walkman" also qualifies. Perhaps its also interesting to consider which Japanese-coined English words have gained global currency. The Wiki list cited above includes "salaryman". That's a fairly widely understood word but doesn't really get used much unless people are talking about Japan. These expressions cause me some difficulty because I'll use them in general conversation and people will wonder what on earth I'm on about e.g. when I speak of seeing a band at a "live house".

[GomiGirl]

Arguably, a word like "walkman" also qualifies. Perhaps its also interesting to consider which Japanese-coined English words have gained global currency. The Wiki list cited above includes "salaryman". That's a fairly widely understood word but doesn't really get used much unless people are talking about Japan. These expressions cause me some difficulty because I'll use them in general conversation and people will wonder what on earth I'm on about e.g. when I speak of seeing a band at a "live house".

This is something that we all do if we have lived here for a certain amount of time... When I speak to friends who have no experience in Japan, I often get into trouble sprinkling words like genki, level-up, waga-mama etc into my general English conversations. it just becomes such a habit and most of us here speak English like this here - even to each other.

[Captain Japan]

FG's Slim was the first person to person to introduce me to the "live house" phrase. He laughed when he said it to me for the first time. I think "service" is another one. "Health" (and its many offshoots) would certainly have to qualify.

[Iraira]

How about "San Kyuu" and her sister "Fack Kyuu"?

[GuyJean]

FG's Slim was the first person to person to introduce me to the "live house" phrase..

Last week, I had two of my co-workers ask me what 'live house' meant; one, a Japanese. The other, a Gaijin who's lived here for 9 years.. I was a little taken aback, but then laughed in their faces, like a true FG should.. like Slim did to you..

Our 'international' company's theme for the year-end-party is 'live house'.. I can't imagine how many 'What the fuck.... ?'s we're going to get..

GJ

[Taro Toporific]

[akatsuka]

thanks for your replies ^^

Originally Posted by Mulboyne
Arguably, a word like "walkman" also qualifies. Perhaps its also interesting to consider which Japanese-coined English words have gained global currency. The Wiki list cited above includes "salaryman". That's a fairly widely understood word but doesn't really get used much unless people are talking about Japan. These expressions cause me some difficulty because I'll use them in general conversation and people will wonder what on earth I'm on about e.g. when I speak of seeing a band at a "live house".

Thats true. I dont think those words count. If you had no knowledge of Japan, then you might not really know what they are on about, even though you can guess the meaning, its not 'proper english'.

just wondering... When you pronounce Japanese words now excepted into the english language - do you pronounce them as an english person would, or do you keep to the japanese pronounciation? i.e. is tokyo "to-kyo-" or "to-ki-yo", is karaoke "ka-ra-o-keh" or "ka-ri-o-ki"???

[Mulboyne]

I dont think those words count. If you had no knowledge of Japan, then you might not really know what they are on about, even though you can guess the meaning, its not 'proper english'.

Actually, "salaryman" and "walkman" have been in the OED for some time (the latter made Le Petit Larousse in 1981 so it is also French). They are both examples of circular borrowing. Another example cited in the 70's was the use of the word "shock" in compounds like "Nixon Shokku" and "dollar shokku". No-one thinks twice about the phrase "oil shock" today but it's possible that the first coinage was Japanese and it was preferred by native speakers to alternatives like "oil crisis".

I sometimes wonder whether I'll see in my lifetime a political slogan in the US along the lines of "Let's Democracy".

[Taro Toporific]

...how do you pronounce them as an english person would, or do you keep to the japanese pronounciation? i.e. is tokyo "to-kyo-" or "to-ki-yo", is karaoke "ka-ra-o-keh" or "ka-ri-o-ki"???

I always use the real pronunciation with an English clue-word like "sing ka-ra-o-keh" ---- even in a Chicago factory bar on the Southside people get it.

...Of all things, 10 years ago I once wrote a marketing/strategy report [for Hitachi] defending the possible uses of Japanese loan words in their US advertising. This was before the anime-manga insanity had taken hold so it hard theory to prove. The best I could up besides references to hunkydori* was Levi Corp selling Dockers jeans, "with a 'sosh more room."

*Yokohama's "Honcho-dori" or Honmoku dori. It turns out that the New York/New Amsterdam use of Dutch "hunky" was already slang meaning 'something good' since the 1760s.

[Jack]

Origami
Ikebana
Dashiki
Daimyo

[sublight]

I can't believe they include skosh on that list. Just because they use it in Hawaii doesn't mean it's English.

Growing up in Boston I heard it all the time. All my neighbors who'd been stationed in Japan in the 50's, 60's and 70's picked up the word skosh while they were there.

Futon.

[GomiGirl]

I always use the real pronunciation with an English clue-word like "sing ka-ra-o-keh" ---- even in a Chicago factory bar on the Southside people get it.

Me too - if you speak Japanese with a half decent accent, the English bastardizations start to grate - even when people say shiBUya rather than SHIbuya but then I make dictionaries for a living so am surrounded by phonetics and stress symbols so it is ingrained I guess. Or I may just be a snob..

However I do think the Japanese bastardizations on English words can be pretty silly too. I like listening to Chinese being spoken when they throw in foreign words and they sound just as they should in the original language. It just makes more sense that silly katakana English.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Growing up in Boston I heard it all the time. All my neighbors who'd been stationed in Japan in the 50's, 60's and 70's picked up the word skosh while they were there.

Futon.

I don't consider what Massholes speak to be English either.

[Buraku]

Nice to see traditional stuff like Udon cusine and Ukiyo-e make that list, however with stuff like Karoshi, Hentai, Chikan and Hikikomori does Japan's modern culture have much to offer the world ?

[nullpointer]

Nice to see traditional stuff like Udon cusine and Ukiyo-e make that list, however with stuff like Karoshi, Hentai, Chikan and Hikikomori does Japan's modern culture have much to offer the world ?

They certainly do. Bukkake comes to mind

[Mulboyne]

Many of the words in that Wiki list and Rob's list are hardly common currency. I can't think of too many people who would say chanoyu instead of tea ceremony and expect to be understood. I don't see Tenno supplanting Emperor anytime soon either.

[Catoneinutica]

"All your base are belong to us"?

[MrUltimateGaijin]

Many of the words in that Wiki list and Rob's list are hardly common currency. I can't think of too many people who would say chanoyu instead of tea ceremony and expect to be understood. I don't see Tenno supplanting Emperor anytime soon either.

exactly. this list is like jwords gaijin in japan might know