JSランゲージスクールブログ | Wasei Eigo(Japanese English) 2
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Today I would like to write about wasei eigo. I wrote a blog about this a couple of months ago, but there are some more terms that I would like to introduce. There are many words that are thought of as “English” used by Japanese people every day but a native speaker would not understand these words.
Since it is very hot recently, I would like to talk about the word “cooler”. In English we say air conditioner. A cooler is something small that you keep drinks and food in when you go on a picnic in the United States. When Japanese people use the word “cooler”, it means “air conditioner”. An example sentence of how to use it properly is: Can I turn on the air conditioner? It’s hot in here.
Another word that is wasei eigo is “fried potatoes”. In English we say “French fries”. In English, if you say fried potatoes, it means potatoes that have been sliced and fried in a pan, usually with red onions and other seasonings. Fried potatoes for English speakers look like this picture:
Another word that is misused in Japanese is “bike”. When Americans use the word “bike”, they usually mean “bicycle”. Also, a scooter (or moped) is different from a bike in English. And we say motorcycle for the big machines. In America, usually if you drive a scooter, it is not considered cool, but if you drive a motorcycle it is cooler. Also, if you say, “I ride my bike on weekends”, we think you mean a bicycle. Here are three pictures to show you the difference for Americans between bike, scooter, and motorcycle.
One last word that is wasei eigo is “catch ball”. I hear my friends say this all the time. In English we say “pitch and catch”. It is like a name of a game, so we always use the verb play with it. An example sentence would be: Do you want to play pitch and catch in the park?
That’s all my wasei eigo for today. I hope you learned something new!
