An A to Z of Japanese English Part One- A to C

UPDATE: Polished up version of the whole list, including PDF version, now available here.

As with my A to Z of Konglish, this is supposed to be as full a list as I can possibly make and therefore to include outdated and rarely used expressions, tiny meaningless differences etc without comment (from me- you can comment below on anything you like)! I’ve put a lot of thought and research into this topic over the years and hope someday to write several very long articles on if, how, when and how much you should correct this kind of language/ my favourite expressions / what their existence means/ etc, but I have a feeling “someday” means when (if?) I retire… In the meantime, here’s Part One of my lifetime’s work:

A class (ei kurasu) – top class/ first rate

accel (akkuseru) – short for (car) accelerator, and (almost?) always used in place of the longer form

accent (akusento) – contrasting highlight

accent (akusento) – stress (word stress), not regional accents etc.

after care (aafuta kea) – product maintenance/ after sales service

agito (ajitto) – a subversive’s hideaway or meeting place (from “agitation”)

air pocket (ea poketto) – air pocket/ blind spot

all back (ooru bakku) – swept back hair

almighty (oorumaitii) – superb

alumi (arumi) – aluminium

alumite (arumaito) – aluminium oxide

ama – short for “amateur”

ame foot (ame fuuto) – American football

American coffee (amerikan koohii) – cafe Americano

anchor (anka) – news anchor, but not a boat anchor

anime – any kind of animation, not just Japanese

apart (apaato) – wooden two story block of flats, as opposed to a mansion (manshon, a usually high rise concrete building)- from a shortening of “apartment” (but the longer form never used)

application – use, but not job application

appo – appointment

arbeit- temporary work (from the German for work)

at home (attohoomu) – cosy, homely atmosphere (apparently)

attack (attaku) – aiming for a difficult goal

auto bi (ooto bai- from “automatic” and “bike”) – motorbike

AV (ei bii) – adult video or audio visual

avant guerre (aban gea- from French) – before the war

avec (abekku, from the French for “with”) – ‘a couple’, i.e. boyfriend and girlfriend.

baby bed (beibi beddo) – cot

baby car (beibi kaa) – pushchair/ buggy

babysitter (beibishitta) – usually means nanny or au pair, but also same meaning as English (although the concept is much rarer in Japan)

back mirror (bakku miraa) – (car) rear view mirror

band master (bando masutaa) – bandleader

bare shoulder dress (bea shorudaa doresu) – off the shoulder dress

bargain (baagin) – sale, e.g. summer sales

barracks (?????)- decrepit buildings

Barriquand (barikan) – hair clippers (from an old brand name)

base up (beisu appu) – all round pay rises

basket (basuketto) – basketball

baton touch (baton tacchi) – to pass the torch

bed town (beddo taun) – commuter town

belt conveyor (beruto conebeiyo) – conveyor belt

best ten (besuto ten) – top ten

BGM (bii jii emu) – background music (an authentic genre that people choose as their favourite!)

bian – short for lesbian

bike (baiku) – usually only used for motorbikes, although “mountain bike” is a kind of bicycle as in English

billiard (biriyaado) – means pool rather than billiards, which is virtually unknown

blazer coat (bureiza kooto) – blazer

blinds (buraindo) – shutters

body buil (bodii biru) – short for body building

body con (bodii kon- from “body consciousness”) – ultratight clothes warn in the late 80s and early 90s

bond (bondo) – very strong adhesive

bottle keep (botturu kiipu) – a system where you buy a whole bottle and can continue drinking it next time you come to the same bar or izakaya

bottom (botomu) – your bottom half, rather than just your arse

boy (boi) – porter

buil (biru) – short for building, and used much more often than the whole word

buraja – Japanese pronunciation of “brassiere” (the shorter form “bra” isn’t used)

bus jack (basu jakku) – hijacking of a bus

cake (keiki) – fancy cake only, anything pastry-like is “pan” (bread)

called game (koorudo geimu) – ??????

cameraman – also used for photographers

camp (kampu) – campsite

camping car (kampingu kaa) – camper van

canvas (kanbusu) – paintings only, not the material more generally

capa (from Portuguese) – raincoat

cashing (kashingu) – withdrawing cash using your credit card, often done in dodgy back offices for a commission as a way of paying off one credit card with another (as you have to pay credit cards off in full every month in Japan hence, you would think, nullifying their name!)

castella (kasutera- from Spanish) – type of sponge cake

catch ball (katchi booru) – playing catch

catch phone (katchi foon) – call waiting

cereal (shiiriau) – only breakfast cereals, not as a category of food/ plants

chakku – zip

charm point (chaamu pointo) – attractive qualities

check point (chekku pointo) – something that needs checking, i.e. thing on a checklist

cheek dance (chiiku dansu) – dancing cheek to cheek

cheer girl (chia gaaru) – cheerleader

China dress (chaina doresu) – cheongsam

choco – short for chocolate, and used much more than the full word

chokki (from the Portuguese word jaque) – a vest/ waistcoat, e.g. a fisherman’s one

chorus (koorusu) – choral singing

cider (saida) – soda pop/lemonade (no connection to apples, let alone to alcohol)

claim (kureimu) – complaint

classic (kurashikku) – (western) classical music, not classic pop

clay (kurei) – only for clay court tennis, not more generally for the material used to make pottery

cleaning (kuriiningu) – the usual word for dry cleaning and also used for house cleaning services, but not cleaning more generally

clip (kurippu) – short for paper clip, longer expression never used

cloak (kurooku) – cloakroom

closed sale (kuroosudu seiru) – closing down sale

CM (shii emu, short for commercial message) – an ad

CM song (shii emu songu, short for commercial message song) – radio jingle

cock (kokku) – tap for water or gas

cock (kokku or kokku-san) – a cook

coin laundry (koin randorii) – laundrette

compa (short for “company”) – student social gathering

companion (konpanyon) – attractive female guide at a large exhibition

compass (konpasu) – drawing compass only, not the one for navigation

compe – short for competition, and much more common than the full word

concours (konkooru- from French) – competition

condense milk (condensu mirukku) – condensed milk

conne – short for connections, meaning old school tie etc

consent (konsento) – electric socket, never used with the meaning of giving consent (nobody seems to know where this one comes from, nor why it is considered a borrowed word)

conserva (konsaaba) – short for conservative

container (kontaina) – only the shipping meaning, not Tupperware etc

conte (konto, from French) – little story/ skit

conveni (konbini) – short for convenience store, and much more common than the full expression

cool biz (kuuru bizu) – the government-led campaign to have people dress down during the summer at work and so use less air conditioning

corner (koona) – section of shop or magazine

correpon – short for correspondence (meaning letters)

cosplay (kosupurei- short for costume play) – unlike the English borrowing of this expression, used for all dressing up (including kids), not just for anime characters

country (kantori) – country club

course (koosu) – as well as the study meaning, often used for walking trails

crank in (kuranku in suru) – starting to shoot a film

crawl (kurooru) – swimming only, not the way babies walk

cuffs button (kafusu boton) – cuff link

culture centre (??????) – cultural centre, e.g. local place for adult education

cunning (kanningu) – cheating in an exam, not a personality word

cup (koppu) – certain kinds of glass

cup ramen (kappu raamen) – pot noodle

curry rice (karee raisu) – Japanese-style curry

curry roux (karee ruu) – curry powder with flour- just add water to make a curry sauce

cutter (kattaa) – a knife for cutting paper

Corrections, additions and comparisons to other languages gratefully accepted.

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