Pseudo-anglicism

Pseudo-anglicisms are words in languages other than English which were borrowed from English but are used in a way native English speakers would not readily recognize or understand. Pseudo-anglicisms often take the form of portmanteaux, combining elements of multiple English words to create a new word that appears to be English but is unrecognisable to a native speaker. It is also common for a genuine English word to be used to mean something completely different from its original meaning.

Pseudo-anglicisms are related to false friends or false cognates. Many speakers of a language which employs pseudo-anglicisms believe that the relevant words are genuine anglicisms and can be used in English.

When many English words are incorporated into many languages, language enthusiasts and purists often look down on this phenomenon, terming it (depending on the importing language) Denglisch, Franglais or similar neologisms.

Pseudo-anglicisms in various languages

General

• In Italian, French and Spanish footing means "jogging".
• In Italian and French sig is used in cartoons to denote a sigh.
• In many European languages a smoking is not a smoking jacket in the Edwardian sense, but a "dinner-jacket" or "tuxedo".
• In many European languages (such as Dutch, German, French and Russian) the word string refers exclusively to a G-string.
• In many European languages, the term light soft drink refers to a diet soft drink.

Chinese

• BB call - pager
• DM - flyer, brochure, junk mail (from "direct mail")
• kǎo - to photocopy (from the first syllable in "copy")

Danish

• Babylift (IPA: [b̥eɪb̥ilifd̥]) — "carrycot".
• A bøfsandwich (IPA: [b̥ø:fsɑnʋitɕ]) is not a beef sandwich, but a beef patty on a bun (similar to a hamburger).
• Drink (IPA: [d̥ʁeŋg̊]) only means an alcoholic drink containing spirits (it is mainly used in the sense of cocktails).

Dutch

Main article: Dunglish

• Beamer (also German) — video projector
• Box - (large, toddler-sized) cot
• Camping (also French, Italian, Russian and Spanish) — campsite
• Coffeeshop — a store selling cannabis (or, colloquially, other psychedelic drugs)
• Drugs refers exclusively to narcotics (not to medicines in general)
• Dumpstore meaning an army surplus store
• Fish sticks - fish fingers (BrE)
• The word flat is often used to refer to a block of flats. What the British call "flat" is called appartement in Dutch.
• Happy end (also Czech, German, French and Russian) — happy ending
• Oldtimer (also German) — vintage car
• Panty (also in Spanish) - panty hose
• Playbacken (the noun playback being also used also in French and Spanish) — lip-synching [a song]
• Pocketboek or just Pocket for what is commonly known as a paperback
• Skeeleren — inline skating. Sometimes the 5 wheel speedskates are called 'skeelers' in Dutch.
• Skelter — a pedal-driven soapbox (car)
• Songtekst ("tekst" being a native Dutch word) (also German) — lyrics
• Topfit (also German) — perfectly physically fit

French

Main article: Franglais

• Auto-stop (also in Italian, Russian, Romanian) — Hitchhiking
• Baby Foot — Table football
• Baskets (also in Romanian)— sneakers, trainers (basketball shoes).
• Une voiture Break or un Break — a station wagon (American), an estate car (English) - cf. shooting break
• Break - Je fais un break = I rest
• Caddy — shopping trolley
• Camping (also in Dutch, Italian, Russian, Romanian ) — campsite
• Camping-car — Campervan or "recreational vehicle" (also used in Japanese).
• Car — coach (also Swiss German)
• The noun catch refers to professional wrestling. It is also used occasionally in Italian, even though it is often considered to be a little old-fashioned.
• Chamallow — Marshmallow
• Clip - (Music) video
• Flipper (also Dutch and German and Italian) — Pinball Machine
• Foot — Football (soccer)
  • In Canadian French, this would refer to Canadian football, or sometimes in context to American football. Association football is le soccer.
• Jogging — Tracksuit (jogging suit)
• Lifting (also in Italian, Romanian and German)— facelift
• Newsbreak - news update
• Parking (also in Russian) — parking lot (car park)
• People — celebs (sometimes spelt pipeuls, pipols)
• Playback (also in Italian and Spanish; the verb playbacken being also used in Dutch) - lip-synch
• Pom Pom girl — cheerleader
• Pressing - Dry cleaning shop
• Recordman, recordwoman - record holder in sports
• Relooking - makeover
• Rugbyman - Rugby player
• Self — self-service restaurant
• Shampooing – shampoo
• Talkie-walkie — walkie-talkie
• T-Shirt or Tee-Shirt - Same sense
• Tennisman, tenniswoman - Tennis player (male or female)

German

Main article: Denglisch

• Air-Condition -- abbreviated from Air conditioning
• Backshop - a bakeshop
• Beamer (also Dutch) -- video projector
• Beauty-Farm -- spa
• Bodybag -- backpack (ironically, English has imported the German word Rucksack)
• checken -- understand, realize
• Car -- coach (Switzerland only; also French)
• catchen -- professional wrestling (from "catch wrestling")
• Dressman (also Dutch) -- (male) model
• Ego-Shooter -- first-person shooter (derived from Latin "Ego" = "I")
• Flipper (also Dutch and French and Italian) -- pinball machine
• Foto-Shooting -- photo session
• Funeralmaster -- undertaker
• Funsport -- a sport primarily practised in leisure time and for fun
• Handy -- mobile phone
• Happy-End (also Dutch) -- happy ending
• Horrortrip -- bad trip (psychedelic crisis)
• Highboard -- table-high cupboard
• Inliner -- Rollers (shoes) (not strictly a pseudo-anglicism as the sport is also called 'inline skating' in English)
• Logical -- riddle/puzzle to be solved by logical thought
• Longseller -- long-term (best)seller
• Oldtimer (also Dutch) -- vintage car
• Pullunder -- sweater vest
• Puzzle (also French, Spanish, Italian and Dutch) - jigsaw puzzle
• Rocker -- biker
• Shooting-Star -- successful newcomer
• Songtext ("Text" being a native German word) (also Dutch) -- 'lyrics'
• Showmaster -- show host
• Talkmaster -- talk show host
• topfit (also Dutch) -- perfectly physically fit
• Twen -- anyone who is in his/her twenties, or the age itself
• Wellness -- feeling well by expensive means (spa, ...)

Hungarian

• Farmer means "denim" as well as "(blue) jeans" made of denim.
• Hepiend or happy end - happy ending
• Pléjbek(k) or playback - lip-synching
• Wellness - feeling well by expensive means

Italian

• Auto-stop (also in French, Russian, Romanian, Polish and Spanish) — Hitchhiking
• Camper — Campervan or "recreational vehicle"
• Camping (also in Dutch, French, Russian, Romanian and Spanish ) — campsite
• The noun catch refers to professional wrestling even though it is often considered to be a little old-fashioned.
• Charleston - Hi-hat
• Flipper (also in French and German) — Pinball Machine
• Lifting (also in French, Romanian and Spanish)— facelift
• Playback (also in French, German, and Spanish; the verb playbacken being also used in Dutch) - lip-synch
• Pullman — Coach
• Puzzle - Jigsaw puzzle
• Telefilm - (also in Spanish) TV series
• Hostess - female flight attendant

Japanese

Main article: Wasei-eigo

• Desk (デスク, desuku) — title for a person in office
• Famicom (ファミコン, famikon) — video game, portmanteau of "family" and "computer"
• Mansion (マンション, manshon) — a condominium apartment
• Okushon (億ション) — luxury apartment (a pun in comparison with "mansion", since the Japanese oku means 10⁸ compared to man which is 10⁴)
• Smart (スマート, sumaato) — slim or skinny
• Style (スタイル, sutairu) — a woman's figure (particularly if slim or skinny)

Portuguese

• Cooper - To jog.
• Shopping - Shopping mall, using the English gerund as a noun

Russian

• Biker (байкер) — a member of a Motorcycle club rather than merely a motorcyclist
• Camping (кемпинг) (also Dutch French) — campsite
• Clipmaker (клипмейкер) — music video director
• Face control (фейс-контроль) — checking whether a person looks appropriate (a common practice at Russian night clubs)
• Killer (киллер) — "hitman", "hired assassin" or "hatchet man"
• Note-book (ноутбук) - Laptop computer
• Parking (паркинг) — parking lot (car park)
• Safing (сейфинг) — providing safe deposit boxes
• Scotch (скотч) — Scotch tape

Spanish

• Autostop (also in Italian, French, Russian, Romanian and Polish) — hitchhiking.
• Body (also in French) — bodysuit, leotard.
• Clip — music video.
• Coal-less (at least in Rioplatense Spanglish) — G-string.
• Fitness (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — fitness training as a kind of gymnastics.
• Footing (also in French) — jogging.
• Parking (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — parking lot (US) or car park (UK, Aus).
• Panty or panti — "pantyhose".
• Playback (common use but still not recognized by RAE, and also in French and Italian) — lip-synch.
• Puzzle (also in French and German) — jigsaw puzzle.
• Slip (also in French) — briefs.
• Snow (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — an abbreviation for "snowboard" as sport. The board is called tabla de snow.
• Telefilm (also in Italian) — TV series.

Swedish

• Trafficking refers primarily to trafficking in human beings or sex trafficking, and not to smuggling in general.
• The word walkman is usually replaced with "freestyle" (despite the fact that the word does not fit particularly well with Swedish phonotactics or grammar; actually, freestyle was the name chosen for marketing purposes in Sweden)

Turkish

• Autostop in Turkish means "hitchhiking".
• Body refers to "bodybuilding".
• Coke (derivated from Coca-Cola) refers to a "soft drink".
• Flirting is generally used as "dating".
• Goal position in football means "scoring chance".
• Playback is "lip sync".

References

• Japanese English: Language And The Culture Contact, by James Stanlaw, Hong Kong University Press, 2004.
• "Wasei eigo: English ‘loanwords' coined in Japan," by Laura Miller, in The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright, edited by Jane Hill, P.J. Mistry and Lyle Campbell, Mouton/De Gruyter: The Hague, pp. 123–139, 1997.
• Geoff Parkes and Alan Cornell (1992), 'NTC's Dictionary of German False Cognates', National Textbook Company, NTC Publishing Group.

See also

• Denglisch
• Anglicism
• Loanword
• Calque
• Barbarism
• Language transfer
• List of pseudo-German words adapted to English
• List of pseudo-French words adapted to English
• Pseudo-Spanish adapted to English

External links

• Examples of Japanese pseudo-anglicisms