05/09: New Japanese words from English
Category: Omoshiroi Nihongo
Posted by: evankirby
One of the most fun {features{ of the Japanese language is how foreign words are mangled to fit the limited Japanese sound-set. For example, McDonalds becomes マクドナルド (Makudonarudo, 6 syllables), and Scotland スコットランド (Sukottorando, 7 syllables!). However, these new words are not just nouns - sometimes new verbs are created from English words, made to fit Japanese grammar. Here are some examples. See if you can guess the original English word they're from!
ググる (guguru) - to search the Internet for something. From {Google{, of course.
あのCMの音楽の名前、ググっても分からなかった。 (ano shi emu no ongaku no namae, gugutte mo wakaranakatta, I tried googling for the name of the music in that ad, but I couldn't find it)
ダブる (daburu) - to overlap, usually in a negative way, for example to have two appointments at the same time. From {double{.
言うことがずっとダブってしまった！ (iu koto ga zutto dabutte shimatta, We kept saying the same thing as each other)
ネゴる (negoru) - to discuss something with intent to come to an agreement. From {negotiate{.
北斗の拳の中古DVDがほしいけど、値段がちょっと高い。。。 (Hokuto no Ken no chuuko DVD ga hoshii kedo, nedan ga chotto takai, I really want that Hokuto no Ken used DVD, but it's kind of expensive)
じゃ、ネゴってみてどう？ (ja, negotte mite dou, why don't you try negotiating with them?)
トラブる (toraburu) - to have problems, or to cause problems. From {trouble{.
車がまたトラブってるけん、ちょっと遅れるかも。 (kuruma ga mata torabutteru ken, chotto okureru kamo, The car's giving me trouble again, so I'll probably be a bit late.)
ハモる (hamoru) - to be in tune with each other, to say the same thing. From {harmony{.
パニクる (panikuru) - to panic!
バグる： (baguru) (of software or hardware) to have an error, to crash. From the English {bug{, of course!
It's kind of hard to explain, but there's just something fun about using Google as a verb in Japanese: 自分の名前をググってみた！ (Jibun no namae wo gugutte mita, I tried googling my name.)
Any other words that we missed?
ググる (guguru) - to search the Internet for something. From {Google{, of course.
あのCMの音楽の名前、ググっても分からなかった。 (ano shi emu no ongaku no namae, gugutte mo wakaranakatta, I tried googling for the name of the music in that ad, but I couldn't find it)
ダブる (daburu) - to overlap, usually in a negative way, for example to have two appointments at the same time. From {double{.
言うことがずっとダブってしまった！ (iu koto ga zutto dabutte shimatta, We kept saying the same thing as each other)
ネゴる (negoru) - to discuss something with intent to come to an agreement. From {negotiate{.
北斗の拳の中古DVDがほしいけど、値段がちょっと高い。。。 (Hokuto no Ken no chuuko DVD ga hoshii kedo, nedan ga chotto takai, I really want that Hokuto no Ken used DVD, but it's kind of expensive)
じゃ、ネゴってみてどう？ (ja, negotte mite dou, why don't you try negotiating with them?)
トラブる (toraburu) - to have problems, or to cause problems. From {trouble{.
車がまたトラブってるけん、ちょっと遅れるかも。 (kuruma ga mata torabutteru ken, chotto okureru kamo, The car's giving me trouble again, so I'll probably be a bit late.)
ハモる (hamoru) - to be in tune with each other, to say the same thing. From {harmony{.
パニクる (panikuru) - to panic!
バグる： (baguru) (of software or hardware) to have an error, to crash. From the English {bug{, of course!
It's kind of hard to explain, but there's just something fun about using Google as a verb in Japanese: 自分の名前をググってみた！ (Jibun no namae wo gugutte mita, I tried googling my name.)
Any other words that we missed?
Judah wrote:
???????????? to take a taxi, from Taxi