Heiße Kuchen!?
Waseieigo (和製英語, Japanese English also pejoratively called Japanglish) refers to words that sound like English but are actually not. Such words have word elements taken from English, but can be understood only among Japanese.
💼 I picked up a few that foreigners in Japan may encounter when doing their paperwork there.
My Number Card (Social Security number card).
Main bank (house bank: bank that you have an account with)
Hallo Work (government's Employment Service Centre)
Salary man (office worker)
Guard man (security guard)
Arbeit (part-time job)
Base-Up (pay raise)
Sign (signature, autograph)
Foreign tourists may encounter the following puzzling words:
🚅 When travelling ….
Inbound (foreign tourists)
Green cars (First class carriages)
Silver seats (seats reserved for aged persons)
Manner mode [as in “put your mobile on manner mode onboard”] (slient mode)
Klaxon (Horn)
🏨 When staying in a hotel….
Viking (buffet in a hotel, etc.)
Morning call (wake-up call)
Y-shirt (dress shirt) in the context of laundry service
Consent (electrical outlet, power point)
🛍 When shopping or dining out …
Regi [ster] (cashier)
Depart [ment] (department stores)
Conveni [ence] (convenience stores)
Point card (loyalty card)
Morning service (breakfast menu in a coffee shop)
Fried potato (French fries/chips)
Hot cake (pancake)
Ice coffee (iced coffee)
Soft cream (soft-serve ice cream)
Cider (soda water)
You may notice that Japanglish can be well disguised while some expressions sound utterly comical 😂 when they are translated literally.
🥞 Many years ago, I bought a ready-made mix for Japanese pancakes in Germany. The product information label said “Heiße Kuchen”. It took me a while to realize that this was a direct translation of “hot cake” into German.
What is your favourite example of Japanglish?