“Sarada,” “marason” and “sekushii.” Do you recognise these words? Probably not, but they are English words that are common in Japanese. Borrowing foreign words is common around the world. In English we use the French “bon apetít” to tell someone to enjoy their meal, and we say “ciao” to say goodbye. And the Japanese use a lot of English words. Language expert T. Kaori Kitao says, “In writings on fashion, cooking, sports, arts, and more recently, of course, the computer, English words sometimes overtake the text.”
So, how did the words get there? Some English words made it into Japanese during the American occupation of Japan after World War II. Later, global American culture had a big impact. Kitao puts English words in the Japanese language into two main categories: Japanglish and Janglish. Japanglish words like “furesshu” (fresh) and “kyuuto” (cute) are trendy and sound cooler than the native Japanese versions, especially to young people. Incidentally, “sarada” is salad, “marason” is “marathon”, and “sekushii” is “sexy”. Other words include “minisuka” (miniskirt) and “sekoha” (second-hand).
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