People who looked at the Konglish list I mentioned in my last post might have noticed how many of the words and phrases are marked “same in Japanese”. If English as a Lingua Franca does/ will exist, I would guess it is fairly certain to include quite a lot of expressions made from English words and affixes that have been created and spread with no help from native speakers, just like the Japlish expressions karaoke (from Japanese for empty plus orchestra), Walkman and Pokemon (from pocket monsters). These expressions, which are used by both Japanese and Koreans in their own languages and many of their English language conversations, are some fairly good candidates for future ELF forms, I reckon.

My own Korean is barely false beginner so I got most of these from my compilation of online and book Konglish lists and a very small Korean/ Japanese dictionary, so there must be loads more. I also really want to know which are used in Chinese-speaking places, particularly Taiwan, so more contributions of any kind gratefully accepted. Although inclusion on this list is not supposed to suggest that the word or expression is common in present Japan and/ or Korea, I’d also of course be interested to hear if any of them are rarely or never used.

The words and expressions are divided into these groups:

– Ones made in Japan and/ or Korea from English words and affixes

– Meanings which are different in Japanese and Korean from British and American English

– Shortenings of English words and expressions which are not common or not possible in British or American English

– Words that actually come from other languages but are sometimes presumed to come from English

– Pronunciation changes that are shared by Japanese and Korean and don’t follow the regular pronunciation changes you would expect

Made in Japan/ Korea from English words and affixes

after care for after sales service

agit for a revolutionary meeting point/ café, short for “agitating point”

American coffee for weak coffee, the opposite of espresso (in both places, “Americano” is somewhat taking over)

auto bi for motorbike (though other terms are perhaps more common nowadays) from “automatic bicycle”

auto race for motor racing

back mirror for rear view mirror

ball pen for ballpoint pen/ Biro

bargain sale for sales

baton touch for passing the baton

belt conveyor for conveyor belt

best dresser for best dressed woman or man

camping car for camper van

casher for bank clerk/ cashier

catch ball for playing catch

CM for a TV ad, from “commercial message”

CM song for an advertising jingle, from “commercial message song”

DM for junk mail, from “direct mail”

dunk shoot for a dunk/ dunk shot

four ball for a kind of billiards

free pass for an all day ticket

free size for one size fits all

freeter for a slacker, from free + arbeiter

freewriter for a freelance writer

full course for a three course meal

gate ball for a kind of croquet

girl hunt for going on the pull

goal in for a goal (scored)

guard man for a security guard

hair pin for a hair clip

heading shoot for a header

high teens for late teens

high vision for HDTV

Hotchkiss for a stapler, from an old brand name

ice candy for an ice lolly

interphone for an intercom

L size for large sized clothing

LL size for extra large (XL) clothing

loss time for injury time (in sports)

love call for screaming at a celebrity you love

M size for medium (clothes)

mass game for group calisthenics

morning call for a wake-up call (in a hotel)

mug cup for a mug

name value for brand value

necktie for a tie

necktie pin for a tie clip

no touch for no connection and non-contact

old miss for an old maid/ spinster

omu rice from “omelette rice”, as it is the one filled with the other

one piece for a dress

open car for a convertible/ drop top/ soft top/ cabriolet (so not a car with an open door)

panty stockings for tights/ panty hose

parabola antenna for parabolic antenna

plus alpha for something extra

range food for microwave meals (as range means cooker/ oven)

repo writer for a kind of reporter, from reportage writer

rotary for a roundabout

royal milk tea for tea made entirely with hot milk, as if it were hot chocolate

running shirt for a kind of vest

S size for small (clothing)

salaryman for an office worker (in any country)

sales point for a selling point/ USP

scenario writer for a screenwriter

SF as the standard way of saying science fiction/ sci fi

sign pen for a kind of felt tip pen

skinship for bodily contact, e.g. cuddles

stand lamp for a kind of lamp

starting member for a founder

tank lorry for a tanker

televi game for video game, from “television game”

vinyl house for a green house made from plastic sheeting

Weiner sausage for weiner

White Day for a day similar to Valentine’s Day on 14 March where men give gifts rather than women

Y shirt for a business shirt/ dress shirt, from “white shirt”

Different meanings in Japanese and Korean to British and American English

accent for word stress rather than local way of speaking

accessory includes jewellery

acryl (short for acrylic) for any kind of hard plastic

all ri (short for “all right”) (only) used when backing up a car or truck

boy for a porter/ bell boy

catchphrase for motto/ advertising slogan

cereal for breakfast cereal only, not general term for wheat etc.

chorus for a choir

Christmas for Christmas Day rather than the whole season

cider for a soft drink similar to 7 Up, with no connection to apples

claim for to complain/ a complaint, especially in business

classic for classical music rather than classic rock and pop

consent for an electrical outlet/ a socket

cunning for cheating in an exam, so not a personality word

date only has the romantic meaning, so not a day/ month/ year

dock for a medical check up (from docking a ship)

drama for a television programme similar to a soap opera (though not usually as long running) more than as a general genre

fighting as a cheer meaning something like “Come on!”

gown for a dressing gown, so not a dress

handle for handlebars and steering wheel

health centre for a fitness centre, so not a kind of clinic

hearing for listening comprehension rather than physical ability(apparently a typical Chinese thing to say too)

heart only for the shape, not the body part

hip for your buttock(s), presumably originally as a euphemism

homo for homosexual not necessarily disparaging

idol for a kind of pop singer

jumper for a kind of jacket rather than something knitted

klaxon for a (car) horn

knife only for dinner knife

line for management

macaroni for a range of pastas

man to man for one to one/ private lesson

manicure for nail polish (a manicure is “nail care”)

meeting for a (romantic) date

memo for a note (rather than a memorandum)

monitor for someone taking part in market research

muffler for a winter scarf

night for a nightclub

note for a notebook

pill only means the contraceptive pill, not tablets more generally

pitcher for a large glass that you drink from (rather than a jug you pour from)

pot for a hot water dispenser

rinse for conditioner

road show for movie previews

sabotage for “go slow” (type of industrial action)

scarf only for headscarves, not winter scarf (which is muffler)

scrap for newspaper cuttings/ clippings

service for free of charge/ free sample

sign for autograph/ signature

silhouette for outline more generally

single for single breasted suit

slacks for women’s trousers

sofa for both a sofa and an armchair

suite room for a suite

Swiss for Switzerland

talent for a television personality/ celebrity

terror meaning terrorism, not fear more generally

trump for playing cards rather than a specific game

vinyl for any kind of soft plastic, e.g. plastic bags

yacht for any size of boat with a sail

Abbreviations of English words

accel for accelerator

aerobic for aerobics

after service for after sales service

alumi for aluminium

ama for amateur

ball pen for ballpoint (pen)/ biro

centi for centimetre

clip for paper clip

cloak for cloakroom

close (pronounced like the verb) for closed

corn beef for corned beef

depart for department store

dia for diamond

double jacket for double-breasted jacket

doz for dozen (also as the spoken form)

driver for screwdriver

dry flower for dried flowers

ero for erotic

ex for extract, meaning one used in cooking

goggle for goggles

ground for (school) playground

Guinness Book for the Guinness Book of Records

ham egg for ham and eggs

handi for handicap (in golf)

happy end for happy ending

headphone for headphones

heli for helicopter

ice coffee for iced coffee

ice skate for ice skate(s)/ ice skating

ice tea for iced tea

illustra for illustration

infla for inflation

infra for infrastructure

intelli for intelligentsia

kilo for both kilogrammes and kilometres

life work for life’s work

Lumpen for Lumpen Proleteriat

magic for magic marker/ permanent marker

mass comm for mass communications

mens for menstruation

nipper for nippers (kind of wire cutters)

nis for varnish

Olympic for The Olympics

panty for panties

perma for perm

Philippine for the Philippines

pierce for piercing

pine juice for pineapple juice

punc for (tyre) puncture

remo con for remote control

sand for sandwich

ski for ski(s)/ skiing

soft cream for soft ice cream (like Mr Whippy)

stainless for stainless steel

sunglass for sunglasses

time up for time’s up

tong for tongs

trans for transformer

Trinidad Tobago for Trinidad and Tobago

tube for inner tube

twin bed for twin beds

Valentine Day for Valentine’s Day

From other languages

Note: These are listed by their original form when possible and the pronunciation in Japanese and/ or Korean might be very different, e.g. chokki for jacque

Allergie (with a hard g sound) for allergy, from German

Arbeit for part-time/ casual work, from the German for “work”

avec for couple, from the French for “with”

Belgie (with a hard g) for Belgium, from French

castella for a kind of sponge cake, from Portuguese

catharsis with a t sound for th, from Greek

Christ with a short vowel sound

Chrom (with a short vowel sound) for chrome, from German

conte for a kind of story, from French

croquis for sketch, from French

dessin for a sketch, from French

doek for clogs, from Dutch

Ego (with a short e sound), from German

enquete for questionnaire, from French

gas bombe for gas cylinder, from German

Gaze (with final e pronounced) for (medical) gauze, from German

Genom (with a hard g sound) for genome, from German

gom for rubber, from Dutch

gom boat for a rubber dinghy, from Dutch and English

gyps for plaster (cast), from German

Hormon for tripe, from German

Hysterie for hysteria, from German

Ideologie (with a hard g sound) for ideology, from German

Italia for Italy, from Italian

jacque for a kind of waistcoat, from Portuguese

Jordan with y as the first sound

letter for a kind of sticker/ label, from Dutch

mach with an h sound instead of a k, from German

marmot for guinea pig, from Dutch

medias for knitted goods, from Spanish

mes for scalpel, from Dutch

mira for an (Egyptian etc) mummy, from Portuguese

misa for (Catholic) mass, from Latin

Neurose for neurosis, from German

orgel for music box, from Dutch

pao for bread, from Portuguese

pench for pincers, from French

Pierrot for clown, from French

piment for a small green pepper, from French

pint for (camera) focus, from Dutch

restaurant with a silent final letter, from French

Roma for Rome, from Italian

Rontgen for X ray, from German

rosario for rosary, from Portuguese

Rossiya for Russia, from Russian

schop for a kind of shovel, from Dutch

serenade with last e pronounced, from German

spuit for pipette/ dropper, from Dutch

Thema for theme, from German

Thema park for theme park, from German and English

Trauma with an ow sound, from German

Urethan for urethane, from German

vacance for vacation/ holiday, from French

veludo for velvet, from Portuguese

Wiener coffee for Viennese coffee, from German

Pronunciation changes

This is supposed to only be examples that don’t conform to the usual pronunciation changes with borrowed words, but my lack of Korean might have let a few completely predictable pronunciation changes slip in… There will also almost certainly be some that have come through other languages and so should be in the section above.

Asia with a short first vowel sound

aerosol with silent r

alcohol with silent h

alkali with short last vowel sound

beta with an e sound rather ee for the first vowel

cauliflower with a short a for the first vowel sound

cocaine with an ai sound instead of ei, like the spelling

cocktail with short a for the first vowel sound

croissant with a for the final vowel sound

curry with an e for the final vowel sound, for English-style curry sauce

eco from ecological, with a short e sound

humorous with no h sound

humour with no h sound

ion with a short first vowel sound

mania with a short a sound, meaning an enthusiast

margarine with a hard g

micro with i instead of ai as the first vowel sound

NATO with a short a insted of ei

neo with e as the first vowel sound

nihilist with a short first vowel sound

nonsense with a as the first vowel sounds

oasis with a short a sound rather an ei sound as the second sound

oboe with the e pronounced

profile with an i sound rather than ai for the second vowel

rabbi with a short i sound

reportage with u as the first vowel sound rather than e

sadist with a sound rather than ei

sauna with ow sound like cow

squall with no w sound

Sweden with an e sound

turbine with short i sound rather than ai

waffle with a as the first sound

Watt with a as the first sound

yeast with a silent y, sounding like “East”

zero with a short e for the first vowel sound

Click on the Konglish and Janglish categories below for more of the same.