Merry Christmas!

Do you know how to wish someone ‘Merry Christmas’ in Japan? Quite easy – you use the same words! You just need to adjust the pronunciation and say ‘merii kurisumasu’ メリークリスマス.

This is an example of an English phrase being widely used in Japanese in the same form and with the same meaning. There are many such loanwords, known as ‘katakana kotoba’ カタカナ言葉, since they are written with the katakana syllabary. In most cases they come from English. To give some common examples, there are such words as ‘dansu’ ダンス (dance), ‘aisu kuriimu’ アイスクリーム (ice cream), ‘erebeetaa’ エレベーター (elevator), ‘purezento’ プレゼント (present), or ‘dezaato’ デザート (desert).

However, sometimes the things get a little mixed up somewhere along the way and new vocabulary is created. It is based on foreign words, sounds foreign, but the meaning is usually a mystery to an English-speaking person who wears them the first time, or it is completely different than what one might expect. Such words are called ‘waseigo’ 和製語 – literally ‘words of Japanese construction’ or ‘wasei eigo’ 和製英語 – ‘English of Japanese construction’ in case of the ones based on English.

Can you guess the meaning of these three words?
‘baikingu’ バイキング
‘hai tacchi’ ハイタッチ
‘atto hoomu’ アットホーム

バイキング: all-you-can-eat buffet
ハイタッチ: high five
アットホーム: cozy

We hope you’re feeling ‘atto hoomu’ アットホーム during Christmas time at home, and you’re spending the holidays healthy! Merry Christmas!

Written by Amelia Lipko