2 ms·

Your second example is a bit disingenuous since the word ‘pyjamas’ is a perfectly normal English word, regardless of its etymology. As for the first: there isn

Your second example is a bit disingenuous since the word ‘pyjamas’ is a perfectly normal English word, regardless of its etymology. As for the first: there isn’t a silly trend of naming everything after randomly-chosen German words, so at least it’s fairly original.

culi 2y ago
I picked the second example exactly to elicit a response such as yours. It's ultimately a word from a foreign language. At some point it got used by English-speakers and then it spread and got used more and more. Lots of foreign words get used. Some catch on and some don't. That's just how language evolves. Pajamas is just an example of a foreign word in a late stage of this evolution
- xanderlewis 2y ago
  In that case I don't see your point. We're talking about words that are entirely foreign — not loanwords.
pdabbadabba 2y ago
'Gestalt,' like 'pajamas,' is also now an English-language word. (Though, admittedly, I think people use it with some level of awareness that it is borrowed from German. So it's different from 'pajamas' in that respect.) I would have thought that the explanation for the phenomenon you highlight is obvious: there is a strong current of Japanophilia in U.S. culture generally, and especially among the tech-minded. So, while people borrow words from languages around the globe, Japanese is especially well represented. I'm surprised people seem reluctant to acknowledge this. Edit: German is another interesting example. Though perhaps among different people and different reasons, English speakers (at least Americans) do also seem to have a special fondness for German words. Gestalt, zeitgeist, schadenfreude, ersatz, etc. For me, these are evocative of the golden age of German-language science and philosophy running roughly from Kant through Jung. For product names, though, German words may tend to be a bit too long and challenging to pronounce for an Anglophone audience. Perhaps this highlights another reason for the popularity of Japanese for this purpose: in addition to providing a pool of 'cool' sounding words without preexisting connotations for English speakers, Japanese seems to have an abundance of short words that an English speaker may find easily pronounceable. (Not to say that the words are necessarily pronounces correctly from the perspective of a Japanese speaker.)

culi 2y ago

I picked the second example exactly to elicit a response such as yours. It's ultimately a word from a foreign language. At some point it got used by English-speakers and then it spread and got used more and more. Lots of foreign words get used. Some catch on and some don't. That's just how language evolves. Pajamas is just an example of a foreign word in a late stage of this evolution

xanderlewis 2y ago
In that case I don't see your point. We're talking about words that are entirely foreign — not loanwords.

pdabbadabba 2y ago

'Gestalt,' like 'pajamas,' is also now an English-language word. (Though, admittedly, I think people use it with some level of awareness that it is borrowed from German. So it's different from 'pajamas' in that respect.) I would have thought that the explanation for the phenomenon you highlight is obvious: there is a strong current of Japanophilia in U.S. culture generally, and especially among the tech-minded. So, while people borrow words from languages around the globe, Japanese is especially well represented. I'm surprised people seem reluctant to acknowledge this. Edit: German is another interesting example. Though perhaps among different people and different reasons, English speakers (at least Americans) do also seem to have a special fondness for German words. Gestalt, zeitgeist, schadenfreude, ersatz, etc. For me, these are evocative of the golden age of German-language science and philosophy running roughly from Kant through Jung. For product names, though, German words may tend to be a bit too long and challenging to pronounce for an Anglophone audience. Perhaps this highlights another reason for the popularity of Japanese for this purpose: in addition to providing a pool of 'cool' sounding words without preexisting connotations for English speakers, Japanese seems to have an abundance of short words that an English speaker may find easily pronounceable. (Not to say that the words are necessarily pronounces correctly from the perspective of a Japanese speaker.)