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English probably borrows from other languages more than any other. What's stopping us from just stealing these words? In Singapore for example, people will oft

English probably borrows from other languages more than any other. What's stopping us from just stealing these words? In Singapore for example, people will often just drop in a Malay or Cantonese word.

torgoguys 11y ago
Nothing. A few of those are already on their way to being borrowed. I've read "kintsugi" (slightly different spelling than the article) in a very much in English legal brief and heard at least one other (wabi-sabi) in another context, again used as if it were part of English. If they're useful, they may just get assimilated.
tjl 11y ago
Borrowing words is pretty common. I went on an exchange to a small town in Québec when I was in high school. They borrowed English words to use in French. The only thing is that their use wasn't quite the same as English. For example, I was asked if a girl who was a good friend of mine was my "chum". I said yes, not knowing that they use it to mean girlfriend/boyfriend. Good examples for English borrowing words are "nirvana" and "dharma". Both are hard to translate their meaning into English so we just go with the word itself.
sdrothrock 11y ago
There probably hasn't been a pressing specific need in English for those specific words; English has definitely borrowed a number of Japanese words, some of which are very common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japanese_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japan... For example, something like 木枯らし (kogarashi, the first wind of winter) is extremely specific and must have been important at some point in Japanese culture, but there isn't any real need for it in English any more than there is for "zephyr" (a gentle wind from the West). Some of these do have English equivalents, like しょうがない, which is really two words and a particle. Most people I know who speak English would just say "oh well" in a resigned tone or, more casually, "shit happens."

torgoguys 11y ago

Nothing. A few of those are already on their way to being borrowed. I've read "kintsugi" (slightly different spelling than the article) in a very much in English legal brief and heard at least one other (wabi-sabi) in another context, again used as if it were part of English. If they're useful, they may just get assimilated.

tjl 11y ago

Borrowing words is pretty common. I went on an exchange to a small town in Québec when I was in high school. They borrowed English words to use in French. The only thing is that their use wasn't quite the same as English. For example, I was asked if a girl who was a good friend of mine was my "chum". I said yes, not knowing that they use it to mean girlfriend/boyfriend. Good examples for English borrowing words are "nirvana" and "dharma". Both are hard to translate their meaning into English so we just go with the word itself.

sdrothrock 11y ago

There probably hasn't been a pressing specific need in English for those specific words; English has definitely borrowed a number of Japanese words, some of which are very common: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japanese_origin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_English_words_of_Japan... For example, something like 木枯らし (kogarashi, the first wind of winter) is extremely specific and must have been important at some point in Japanese culture, but there isn't any real need for it in English any more than there is for "zephyr" (a gentle wind from the West). Some of these do have English equivalents, like しょうがない, which is really two words and a particle. Most people I know who speak English would just say "oh well" in a resigned tone or, more casually, "shit happens."