this post was submitted on 25 May 2026
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Showcasing the brazen and nouveau in English communication.
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If you're communicating with Japanese people, you should not be worried about appearing racist.
For example, convenience stores are called konbini, short for konbiniensu sutoa (コンビニエンスストア), and milkshake is mirukuseki (ミルクシェーク).
Yeah you literally say it with a racist Japanese accent and they understand it perfectly. If you say the English loanword that's the Etymon they have no idea what you're saying.
Is it racism? I always thought that "engrisu" was just the normal way they transliterate. In Greek transliterated words also get "greekified" so as to better map in the language structure for example
Not really. It just makes people (the speakers) feel uncomfortable, like they're "making fun of the way they talk." To be fair, that kind of transliteration doesn't work all the time, and to assume it would might be racist? El spanish language-o does not-o just add -o sounds, and speaking like that would demonstrate a really poor understanding of who you're talking to.
Well...
I tried to get some ibuprofen in Italy and they didn't understand me, until I've added an 'a' and called it ibuprofena
Some languages are just build more on the rhythm or something
But always found it funny, that just adding the stereotypical '-a', '-o' or '-e' seems to resolve the misunderstanding
Maybe I didn't actually reply to your comment, but just wanted to share my association/memory...
That's fine. I love sharing. :p
It is funny how cultural mishaps like that happen, and it warms my heart every time two people can share a laugh about it.