Job Discussion Forums

[gaijin4life]

'ebento' for 'store promotion' or 'promotional event.' A student told me he had gone to an 'ebento' at a ski store on the weekend and it turned out he had gone to a promotion of new season's clothing and ski-gear ..!

[Chris21]

[Sour Grape]

Some very good ideas, thanks.

Markle, I had it in mind for those times at the end of a (high school) class, when there's a few minutes left, not long enough to start anything else, but just too long to leave them sitting there. We've done a few idioms and useful phrasal verbs, but I'd like to do something different a few times, hence this topic.

[fluffyhamster]

There was a list of 'false friends' in the Cambridge International Dictionary of English (1995, now out of print/replaced by the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which doesn't appear to have such lists) which might be worth a look. The Wikipedia list looks a lot more comprehensive (i.e. a lot longer!), though.

[Inflames]

There are a lot of false friends out there. Stuff like one piece and viking (that took me a while to figure out) can be quite annoying as students largely assume they are correct.

[bluefrog]

Stereos are sometimes referred to as "COMPO" which comes from "composition" as in "music compositions".
I've also seen green beans labeled as "kidney beans".
Worcestershire sauce is called "USUTA" sauce.

[AndyH]

I can't believe nobody has mentioned "Hippu" (hip)-means the ass, not the side of the upper leg.

[markle]

[gaijinalways]

The defintion of talent used in Japan is the same as one used in the entertainment industry as the 'talent' is the one who is paid to appear on stage. Whether they have any real talent (or skill) is highly debatable at times.