Comments on: Katakana Mysteries: 6 loan words Japan got wrong

By: Jake

Jake — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 20:32:39 +0000

Yeah, In Ireland, we say ‘you’re looking smart’ to mean handsome or well dressed…. I’m not sure if this is an Irish thing or what, but maybe…

By: SpencervdM

SpencervdM — Wed, 19 May 2010 23:29:38 +0000

There’s also our share of Dutch loanwords that got wrong. For example, the Japanese word for tomboy (お転婆 – otenba) is from the Dutch word “ontembaar”, meaning “untameable”. And the Japanese word for guinnea pig (モルモット morumotto) is from the Dutch word “marmot” (no need to explain “marmot”).

Being Dutch it is interesting to see the surprising amount of traces our sailors left in the Japanese language. I see there’s even an entire Wikipedia article about this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_words_of_Dutch_origin

By: Naomi

Naomi — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 23:56:20 +0000

The way the Japanese use the word ‘smart’ could be a loan from the british english. they do use the adjective smart in that way. crazy brits.

By: Matt Katch

Matt Katch — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 03:03:35 +0000

It’s even better when they sandwich together something w/ hodai and viking, so you have a nomihodai viking. Actually had a friend dress up as a soft drink viking for Halloween, as a local cafe had such a thing; his costume of course was a Norwegian viking covered in soda cans and w/ a hammer made out of 2-liters.

By: James

James — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:06:28 +0000

Yeah, if you ever watch the series Mad Men, you would know that “copy” is the ad industry term for text in an advertisement. Therefore “catch copy” would be some type of text used like a catch phrase. Also, the word “smart” has been used to describe a person’s style in English i.e. “He is a smart dresser”

By: Lloyd Vincent

Lloyd Vincent — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:30:42 +0000

ah, sorry about that. Leave it to the American so I get Swiss and Swedish mixed up. I’ll fix it right up.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:10:43 +0000

Vikings from Switzerland?

That would be Scandinavians, or more accurately, Swedish Vikings if you’re to use the word “Smörgåsbord”.

By: 6 katakana loan words that got lucky | nihonshock

6 katakana loan words that got lucky | nihonshock — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 02:32:58 +0000

[...] the first chapter of Katakana mysteries, I covered a few words whose Japanese meaning has by one path or another become much different from [...]

By: Furan

Furan — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:06:36 +0000

Well, I guess there is a (somehow) reasonable explanation for some of these. “Copy” is a technical term in the advertising business, and its meaning goes well in the context you indicated.
As for “naive” and “smart”, consider XIX century english usage and all kind of falls back in place. Or not?