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

By: c

Wed, 13 Apr 2016 07:36:15 +0000

“Smart” is sometimes used similar ly in English. One might not hear it much now, though. My mom used to say “sharp” to mean looking good, which seems more antiquated.

By: Alex Fleming

Alex Fleming — Tue, 12 Apr 2016 16:00:29 +0000

How arrogant of you to say Japan has got anything “wrong”. You show immense ignorance of how a language works – we do not have some kind of pre-ordained ownership of these words.

By: Ken

Ken — Thu, 28 Jan 2016 20:34:38 +0000

Trauma (トラウマ) is often pronounced as 虎馬sound like Tiger and Horse.
Also some Japanese believes it is a name of specific illness.

By: Joe Kabocha

Joe Kabocha — Wed, 29 Apr 2015 23:38:45 +0000

Good stuff!

By: Fuddle

Fuddle — Wed, 08 Apr 2015 03:50:58 +0000

Good article. Been in Japan ten years, and often when I run into articles like this, they’re a bit “off” with their premise, but this one is pretty much bang on accurate. Hats off.

By: Crash

Crash — Wed, 11 Mar 2015 00:48:38 +0000

What about the incorrect usage of ヒップ？people here have been taught that it means bum, ass, butt. And ムグコップfor mug. That gets uber confusing. And I agree that no other country uses smart in the same way as Japanese. We might say it meaning well dressed but definitely not slim.

By: Karthik

Karthik — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 02:03:05 +0000

Smart == Handsome in Indian English too.

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 10:50:17 +0000

In fact, I’d say that in the UK, “smart” primarily means well dressed, and ‘intelligent’ is seen as a bit of an Americanism.

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 09:52:19 +0000

In British English “smart” is used to describe a well dressed person – such as when they’re going for a job interview, or to a wedding.

“Wow! You’re looking smart!”

By: Jenny

Jenny — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 01:40:02 +0000

Yeah us crazy Brits do use ‘smart’ in that way, but usually to mean that you’re dressed for going to work or something. You can use it to mean ‘well dressed’ as well, so it’s not too far off how the Japanese use it. Also the first time I saw a buffet place called ‘beautiful Viking’ I had a fit of giggles while my Japanese friend got confused as I tried to explain what a Viking was.