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“メカ” refers to any mechanical design. The artists who do “mecha” design in anime will do everything from guns to boats. The English term’s meaning changed whe

“メカ” refers to any mechanical design. The artists who do “mecha” design in anime will do everything from guns to boats. The English term’s meaning changed when it was re-borrowed.

RobotToaster 2y ago
> The English term’s meaning changed when it was re-borrowed. Like the meaning of the term "anime" changed?
- Uvix 2y ago
  Depends on which borrowing you’re referring to. Japanese uses it like the original French to refer to anything animated, then it was changed when English borrowed it from Japanese to refer specifically to Japanese animation.
- numpad0 2y ago
  The point is "mech/mecha" as in "biped humanoid machines" is en-US specific. In ja-JP and probably few others it's "robots". "Anime" is more widely understood.
  - hnbad 2y ago
    But then OP is correct: mecha/mech refers to humanoid bipeds. The Japanese word is not mecha but メカ (meka in romaji). EDIT: I'm being pedantic. When used in English, "mecha" or "mech" is an English word and the semantics associated with similar words in other languages don't really matter. Where it gets confusing is that it's used in the context of discussing Japanese media (and its foreign derivatives) in English. The reason I'm being pedantic is that my native language is German and not only have German loanwords in English often mutated in ways that trip up German native speakers (e.g. wanderlust is better translated as Fernweh, whereas Wanderlust is more about hiking and being in nature) but the same is true in the inverse, i.e. a lot of English loan words in German have different or narrower meanings than in English (e.g. a Burger is not a type of Sandwich as that specifically refers to a sandwich using white bread and a Hot Dog always includes the bread and topping/sauces whereas the hot dog is just a Wurst and ground beef is never referred to as sausage or burger).

“メカ” refers to any mechanical design. The artists who do “mecha” design in anime will do everything from guns to boats. The English term’s meaning changed when it was re-borrowed.

RobotToaster 2y ago

> The English term’s meaning changed when it was re-borrowed. Like the meaning of the term "anime" changed?

Uvix 2y ago
Depends on which borrowing you’re referring to. Japanese uses it like the original French to refer to anything animated, then it was changed when English borrowed it from Japanese to refer specifically to Japanese animation.
numpad0 2y ago
The point is "mech/mecha" as in "biped humanoid machines" is en-US specific. In ja-JP and probably few others it's "robots". "Anime" is more widely understood.
- hnbad 2y ago
  But then OP is correct: mecha/mech refers to humanoid bipeds. The Japanese word is not mecha but メカ (meka in romaji). EDIT: I'm being pedantic. When used in English, "mecha" or "mech" is an English word and the semantics associated with similar words in other languages don't really matter. Where it gets confusing is that it's used in the context of discussing Japanese media (and its foreign derivatives) in English. The reason I'm being pedantic is that my native language is German and not only have German loanwords in English often mutated in ways that trip up German native speakers (e.g. wanderlust is better translated as Fernweh, whereas Wanderlust is more about hiking and being in nature) but the same is true in the inverse, i.e. a lot of English loan words in German have different or narrower meanings than in English (e.g. a Burger is not a type of Sandwich as that specifically refers to a sandwich using white bread and a Hot Dog always includes the bread and topping/sauces whereas the hot dog is just a Wurst and ground beef is never referred to as sausage or burger).