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Katakana words that mean something different in English
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Sour Grape



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 241

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 1:47 am    Post subject: Katakana words that mean something different in English Reply with quote

Such as "Consent", which means electrical socket. Also "mansion" and "talent".

Can you think of any more, or do you know where a list can be found? I'm thinking of doing one of these every time I have three or four minutes to spare at the end of a class.

Thanks in advance.
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saloc



Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 102

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

challenge
naive
gorgeous
cunning
bargain

are words with different meanings in Japanese that spring to mind but there are loads, really. And then there are all those phrases like "just size", "body con" "level up" etc that we just don't use at all


Last edited by saloc on Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:50 am; edited 1 time in total
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Sour Grape



Joined: 10 May 2005
Posts: 241

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 2:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's just what I was looking for, thanks.

Anyone got more, please add them.
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Speed



Joined: 04 Jul 2003
Posts: 152
Location: Shikoku Land

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"service" (sabesu) in Japanese to mean `free` or `complimentary`

How about that? Good one, eh?!
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Clerk



Joined: 13 Apr 2007
Posts: 17

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can only vouch for terms I've personally encountered, and even then I can only say that they're accurate at the time that I post this message (since all sorts of interesting changes can happen on a wiki page), but you may find this list to be useful.
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azarashi sushi



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 562
Location: Shinjuku

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 4:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

campaign
service (sa-bisu)
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Miyazaki



Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 635
Location: My Father's Yacht

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

"Nyuu Faysooh"
= New Face

This is a person that is new to the organization, club or someone that has just become famours or popular for some reason.

"Nyuu Taipu"
= New Type

A product that is new, cutting edge or innovative.

"Maiyu paceu"
= My Pace

A person who is an individual and does things the way they want to do them without really comforming to the group.

"Catch-eee"
= Catch

The chimpira guys that stand outside Shibuya or Shinjuku stations and approach girls to get invovled in the sex trade.

There's a lot and I can't remember all of the katakana words that are derived from English but have their own meaning.
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king kakipi



Joined: 16 Feb 2004
Posts: 353
Location: Australia

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I loved "joy police" for gaming centres, "basket" for basketball, "takushi", "rubu hoteru" and others that elude me at the moment.
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king kakipi



Joined: 16 Feb 2004
Posts: 353
Location: Australia

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 7:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

and my wife's friends here use "3 - 9" (san kyuu) for thanks when they are using mobiles for texting in Oz.
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gaijinalways



Joined: 29 Nov 2005
Posts: 2279

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanx to all the contributors. I plan to update some Japlish worksheets I use, and some of these examples will make interesting addditions.
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cornishmuppet



Joined: 27 Mar 2004
Posts: 642
Location: Nagano, Japan

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2007 8:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got told today that 'neet' is a word used in Japanese that means uneducated and unskilled people, or something like that. When I said that I'd never heard of it (except as in, 'neet vodka' etc) she told me it was from the UK. Anyone else ever heard of it?
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