I seem to have got over the obsession that started with a huge list of Japlish, went on to a smaller but still substantial list of Konglish and then went on to list the similarities between them, so this might be the last of this lists – especially as my quest to do a similar one for Taiwanese Chinglish has turned up surprisingly few examples. Click on the Janglish and Konglish categories at the bottom to check if I did actually do even more.

Different in Janglish and Konglish

1. Group Sounds/ Group Sound, for 60s pop rock

2. beit/ arbei, for temporary or casual work, from German Arbeit

3. digi came/ di ca, from digital camera

4. jet coaster/ roll coaster, for roller coaster

5. live house/ live café, for a live music venue

6. mother complex/ mama boy, for Oedipus complex/ mama’s boy

7. pro wres/ pro wrestling, for Western-style wrestling

8. radi cass/ cassette radio, for radio cassette recorder

9. silver housing/ silver town, for a retirement community

10. billiard/ pocket ball – pool (as a Korean billiard table doesn’t have pockets)

11. sharp pen/ sharp – automatic pencil/ mechanical pencil, short for sharp pencil

12. conne/ back – connection (to politicians etc)

13. one room mansion/ one room – a bedsit/ studio apartment

14. CM, from commercial message/ CF, from commercial film – television advert/ commercial

15. pair look/ couple look – man and woman wearing the same clothes

16. golden hour/ golden time – prime time

17. health centre/ health – health club/ sports club

18. saran wrap/ wrap – plastic wrap/ cellophane

19. gas stand/ oil bank – gas station/ petrol station

20. document/ docu – from documentary

21. homepage/ home P – website (not just a homepage)

22. Gerende (from German)/ slope – ski slope

23. ice candy/ ice bar – ice lolly/ popsicle

24. comedian with e as the second vowel sound/ gagman

25. new half/ trans – transvestite/ transgender

26. social dance/ sports dancing -competition ballroom dancing

27. apart/ villa – small apartment block (in Japan, usually wooden)

28. trainer/ training – sweat suit/ tracksuit

29. free pass/ free ticket – all day ticket

30. cut off/ cutline – cut off point

31. domino/ domino game – dominoes

32. club/ clover (on playing cards)

Different meanings in Korean and Japanese

1. apart, from apartment – usually concrete high rise block of flats/ usually small two storey wooden block of flats (more similar to Korean villa)

2. back number- number on the back of your sports shirt in Korean/ back issue in Japanese

3. sack – backpack/ condom

4. walker – military boots/ a travel magazine or entertainment listings

5. form – an affected manner/ short for platform

6. wet – overcoat/ sentimental

7. panty– also includes men/ only women, from panties

8. boiler – heating/ hot water dispenser

9. combi – sports jacket and trousers/ clothes that go together or matching underwear (plus many non-clothes related meanings)

10. lift- ski lift/ elevator for cargo, not people

Konglish/ Native word in Japanese or no Japanese equivalent

1. TP (from transparency paper) for transparency (for OHP)

2. long leg for long legged

3. melodrama for romantic drama (of whatever level of overacting)

4. short leg for short-legged

5. res for resort hotel

6. shutter man for a man who is financially dependent on his wife

7. O/D for owner-driver

8. spo-lex from sports complex

9. one shot for “bottoms up”/ “down in one”

10. selca for the act of taking photos of yourself or home video/ amateur video, from self + camera

11. le-ports for leisure sports

12. office-tel for a block of flats that can be used for both offices and flats, from office + hotel

13. Peppero day for 11 November, from the shape of four of this stick-shaped snacks next to each other (Pocky Day in Japan hasn’t really taken off)

14. MT for team building/ orientation, from membership training

15. AS for after sales service, from after service

16. bond for super glue

17. condo for a timeshare apartment

18. D/C for discount

19. Dutch pay for going Dutch/ splitting the bill

20. hand phone for mobile phone/ cell phone (similar to German “handy phone”)

21. D/B for database

22. LT for leadership training

23. menu for today’s special

24. member ID for username (on the internet)

25. overeat for vomiting (rather than eating too much)

26. golden ball for sudden death extended time

27. white for white out/ Tippex

Janglish/ Native word or no equivalent in Korean

1. catch copy for (advertising) copy

2. apricot with short a sound

3. April Fool for April Fool’s Day

4. baby car for a pushchair/ stroller

5. base up for all round pay rises

6. button with o as the first vowel sound, from Portuguese botao

7. catch phone for call waiting

8. charm point for best points

9. charming for attractive

10. checkpoint for something on a checklist

11. coin laundry for a laundrette

12. collect mania for collecting

13. cologne from eau de cologne

14. condense milk for condensed milk

15. conne for old school tie etc, from connection

16. conpa for student society

17. conveni for convenience store

18. cooler for an air conditioner that can’t heat

19. cuffs button for cuff links

20. dema from demagoguery

21. demerit for disadvantage

22. diagram for a train timetable

23. dia for a train timetable, from diagram

24. elec guitar from electric guitar

25. energisch with a hard g for energetic, from German

26. engage ring from engagement ring

27. eye make for eye make up

28. free dial for a toll free call/ freephone

29. fried potato for French fries

30. gag with an initial gy

31. game centre for amusement arcade

32. golden hour for prime time

33. gum tape for masking tape

34. guts pose for holding up one fist to celebrate

35. handkerchie from handkerchief

36. jaguar with no w sound

37. jar for a Thermos/ vacuum flask

38. jet bus for a kind of ship

39. jokki for a large mug-style beer glass

40. J-pan from “jeans pants”

41. judge miss for a mistake by the referee

42. jupon for trousers, from French

43. kampa for political fundraising, short for the Russian kampanija

44. karte with final e pronounced for medical records, from German

45. key holder for key ring

46. kok for cook, from Dutch

47. level up for reaching a new level

48. list up for match to the best thing on a list

49. lupe for a magnifying glass, from German

50. mash potato for mashed potato

51. messe for trade fair, from German

52. monochro from monochrome

53. my car for private car/ my own car

54. my home for owning your own home

55. my pace for at your own pace

56. napkin for Tampax

57. neck for bottleneck

58. new half for transvestite/ transsexual

59. no make for wearing no make up

60. no sleeve for sleeveless

61. nurse call for emergency button by your hospital bed

62. pato car from patrol car

63. pipe cut for vasectomy

64. platina for platinum, from Spanish

65. radi con for radio controlled

66. randoseru for a school satchel/ backpack

67. regi from cash register

68. restru from restructuring

69. roman for a kind of story, from French

70. sabao for soap bubbles, from Portuguese

71. seal for a kind of sticker

72. season off for off season

73. share for market share

74. side business for a side job

75. silver seat for a priority seat

76. sister for a Christian nun

77. slip for skidding

78. spats for a kind of leggings

79. stock for a skiing pole, from German

80. takt for a conductor’s baton, from German

81. tape cut for a tape cutting ceremony

82. tenant meaning for rent

83. thema song for theme song, from German

84. torch for a flaming torch

85. trainer for tracksuit

86. two shot for a photo or scene containing two people

87. wine colour for burgundy (coloured)

88. yell for chant/ cheer in sports

Janglish/ the same as British or American English in Korean

1. apron with a short e for a first vowel sound rather than ei

2. asbesto for asbestos

3. barten from bartender

4. baseball and industrial action meanings of strike with different pronunciations

5. beach volley from beach volleyball

6. brandy with final e sound

7. Cellophane tape for Scotch tape

8. centi from centimeter

9. chack for a zipper

10. champagne with a as the second vowel sound rather than ei

11. choco from chocolate

12. comedian with e sound

13. comma with an a for the first vowel sound

14. defla from deflation

15. digital with the first vowel sound as e rather than i

16. Dubai with o as the first vowel sound

17. Egypt with a short e sound

18. energie with a hard g for energy, from German

19. English metre with e sound instead of i

20. figure skate from figure skating

21. form from platform

22. Graecia for Greece

23. Latin America with the second vowel sound being e rather than i

24. manneri from mannerism

25. media with an e sound instead of ee

26. off reco from off the record

27. over from over coat

28. penguin with no w sound

29. penki for paint, from the Dutch word pek

30. premium with e as the first vowel sound (like the spelling)

31. quilting with no w sound

32. RAM and rum homophones

33. scramble egg for scrambled egg

34. speed skate from speed skating

35. squash with no w sound

36. sticker with e as first sound

37. sweater with no w sound

38. track and truck homophones

39. Turco for Turkey, from Portuguese

40. uirus for virus

41. vakzin with w as the first sound for vaccine, from German

42. Vaseline with w as the first sound, from German

43. video with e for the second vowel sound instead of i

44. waist with a short e sound instead of ei, like west

Konglish/ the same as British or American English in Japanese

1. quiz – word puzzle/ quiz

2. dessert – a hot drink (generally coffee) after a meal/ dessert

3. flash – flashlight/ camera flash

4. hiking – cycling or hiking/ just hiking

5. motel – love hotel, often in the middle of town/ motel

6. oil – gasoline/ (cooking) oil

7. band – band aid/ rock band

8. mission – short for transmission/ place where missionaries are based

9. fancy – fancy stationery/ adjective

10. revival – cover version/ revival of musical style

11. yoghurt – drinking yoghurt/ yoghurt

12. eye shopping/ window shopping

13. middle bar/ dash

14. fine play/ fair play

15. golden pants/ corduroy

16. OT/ orientation

17. Hof/ pub

18. self/ self service

19. room salon/ hostess bar (and lots of variations with different names like fashion club)

20. T/ T-shirt

21. Yoplait/ yoghurt

22. gargle/ mouthwash

23. surfing board/ surfboard

24. skin scuba/ scuba-diving

25. MacGyver knife (from the American TV series)/ Swiss Army knife