One of the most fun \u2018features\u2019 of the Japanese language is how foreign words are mangled to fit the limited Japanese sound-set. For example, McDonalds becomes \u30de\u30af\u30c9\u30ca\u30eb\u30c9 (Makudonarudo, 6 syllables), and Scotland \u30b9\u30b3\u30c3\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9 (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!<\/p>\n
\u30b0\u30b0\u308b (guguru) – to search the Internet for something. From \u2018Google\u2019, of course.
\u3042\u306eCM\u306e\u97f3\u697d\u306e\u540d\u524d\u3001\u30b0\u30b0\u3063\u3066\u3082\u5206\u304b\u3089\u306a\u304b\u3063\u305f\u3002 (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)<\/p>\n
\u30c0\u30d6\u308b (daburu) – to overlap, usually in a negative way, for example to have two appointments at the same time. From \u2018double\u2019.
\u8a00\u3046\u3053\u3068\u304c\u305a\u3063\u3068\u30c0\u30d6\u3063\u3066\u3057\u307e\u3063\u305f\uff01 (iu koto ga zutto dabutte shimatta, We kept saying the same thing as each other)<\/p>\n
\u30cd\u30b4\u308b (negoru) – to discuss something with intent to come to an agreement. From \u2018negotiate\u2019.
\u5317\u6597\u306e\u62f3\u306e\u4e2d\u53e4DVD\u304c\u307b\u3057\u3044\u3051\u3069\u3001\u5024\u6bb5\u304c\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u9ad8\u3044\u3002\u3002\u3002 (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)
\u3058\u3083\u3001\u30cd\u30b4\u3063\u3066\u307f\u3066\u3069\u3046\uff1f (ja, negotte mite dou, why don’t you try negotiating with them?)
\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u308b (toraburu) – to have problems, or to cause problems. From \u2018trouble\u2019.
\u8eca\u304c\u307e\u305f\u30c8\u30e9\u30d6\u3063\u3066\u308b\u3051\u3093\u3001\u3061\u3087\u3063\u3068\u9045\u308c\u308b\u304b\u3082\u3002 (kuruma ga mata torabutteru ken, chotto okureru kamo, The car’s giving me trouble again, so I’ll probably be a bit late.)<\/p>\n
\u30cf\u30e2\u308b (hamoru) – to be in tune with each other, to say the same thing. From \u2018harmony\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u30d1\u30cb\u30af\u308b (panikuru) – to panic!<\/p>\n
\u30d0\u30b0\u308b\uff1a (baguru) (of software or hardware) to have an error, to crash. From the English \u2018bug\u2019, of course!<\/p>\n
It’s kind of hard to explain, but there’s just something fun about using Google as a verb in Japanese: \u81ea\u5206\u306e\u540d\u524d\u3092\u30b0\u30b0\u3063\u3066\u307f\u305f\uff01 (Jibun no namae wo gugutte mita, I tried googling my name.)<\/p>\n
Any other words that we missed?<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
| One of the most fun \u2018features\u2019 of the Japanese language is how foreign words are mangled to fit the limited Japanese sound-set. For example, McDonalds becomes \u30de\u30af\u30c9\u30ca\u30eb\u30c9 (Makudonarudo, 6 syllables), and Scotland \u30b9\u30b3\u30c3\u30c8\u30e9\u30f3\u30c9 (Sukottorando, 7 syllables!). However, these new words are not just nouns – sometimes new verbs are created from English words, made…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
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