In my long experience with Korean
and Japanese learners, I have noticed how both groups tend to shorten English
expressions.
In other words, Japanese and
Koreans like to make contractions.
A contraction means the shorter
form of a word. For example:
are not ==> aren't
would have ==> would've
I will ==> I'll
etc.
All the examples above are good. But the contractions that we are
going to learn today are of a different kind. They are part of “Fusion English” or unusual English. So these
contractions are actually wrong or not common.
image courtesy of stock.xchng |
Now, I hope you don’t misunderstand.
Each country in the world that doesn’t have English as its native language has
its own Fusion English. We call these different versions of English like this:
Japlish = Japanese + English
Konglish = Korean + English
Chinglish = Chinese + English
Russlish = Russian + English
Germlish = German + English
etc.
Sound familiar?
Of course we can say that the
local speakers “borrowed” the English expression and use it in their own
style, but usually the local speakers have the wrong idea. They think that the
expression that they use is original and common in English. But in
fact, such an expression has already changed a lot and it's hard for an actual
native speaker to recognize or understand.
In short, the meaning of the new
expression is very far from the original. This can cause a lot of
misunderstanding.
In the beginning of this post I mentioned
Korean and Japanese learners. But other nationalities should also learn this
because many “Fusion English” expressions have spread to other countries as
well. You will find the same Fusion expressions in many different countries.
There are many kinds of
Fusion expressions. We cannot discuss all of them in just one post. So, like I
said, today we’re going to focus on bad contractions only.
Here is a short list of common bad contractions made by non-native speakers:
Japanese-English
Fusion
|
||
Bad
Contraction
|
Japanese
|
Original
English
|
ice
|
アイス
|
ice cream
|
Ame foot
|
アメフト
|
American football
|
apart
|
アパート
|
apartment (US) ; flat (UK)
|
apo
|
アポ
|
appointment
|
buil
|
ビル
|
building
|
ball pen
|
ボールペン
|
(ballpoint) pen
|
depart
|
デパート
|
department store
|
en sto
|
エンスト
|
stall (car engine)
|
famicom
|
ファミコン
|
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
|
fami rest
|
ファミレス
|
family restaurant
|
front
|
フロント
|
reception desk
|
hamburg
|
ハンバーグ
|
Salisbury steak
|
han kerchie
|
ハンカチ
|
handkerchief or “hankie”
|
han st
|
ハンスト
|
hunger strike
|
house
|
ハウス
|
greenhouse or glasshouse
|
infla
|
インフレ
|
inflation
|
illust
|
イラスト
|
illustration
|
jea pan
|
ジーパン
|
jeans
|
love ho
|
ラブホ
|
love hotel
|
conveni
|
コンビニ
|
convenience store
|
concent
|
コンセント
|
power outlet
|
OL
|
OL
|
female office worker
|
machine
|
ミシン
|
sewing machine
|
all righ
|
オーライ
|
all right
|
auto bi
|
オートバイ
|
motorcycle; motorbike
|
pine
|
パイン
|
pineapple
|
perma
|
パーマ
|
perm
|
punc
|
パンク
|
flat tire
|
pan sto
|
パンスト
|
pantyhose
|
perso com
|
パソコン;
パーソナルコンピューター
|
PC
|
pro wrest
|
プロレス
|
pro wrestling
|
remo con
|
リモコン
|
remote
|
restru
|
リストラ
|
restructuring; downsizing
|
sand
|
サンド
|
sandwich
|
se frie
|
セフレ
|
friend with benefits
|
sex hara
|
セクハラ
|
sexual harassment
|
sha pen
|
シャープペンシル
|
mechanical pencil
|
CM
|
シーエム
|
TV commercial
|
soft
|
ソフト
|
software
|
soft cream
|
ソフトクリーム
|
soft serve
|
ska bo
|
スケボー
|
skateboard
|
super
|
スーパー
|
supermarket
|
st
|
ストライキ
|
strike
|
timely
|
タイムリー
|
clutch hit
|
televi
|
テレビ
|
TV
|
televi game
|
テレビゲーム
|
video game
|
tele ca
|
テレカ
|
prepaid card
|
toile
|
トイレ
|
toilet
|
wor pro
|
ワープロ
|
word processor
|
youn ex
|
ヤンエグ
|
young executive
|
Now, here are some Korean-English
Fusion contractions. Like I said, some of them are the influence of Japan (you
can see the similarities). English Fusion expressions travel across different
countries…
Korean-English
Fusion
|
||
Bad
Contraction
|
Korean
|
Original
English
|
apart
|
아파트
|
apartment (US) ; flat (UK)
|
machine
|
미싱
|
sewing machine
|
remo con
|
리모컨,
리모콘
|
remote
|
auto bi
|
오토바이
|
motorcycle; motorbike
|
di ca
|
디카
|
digital camera
|
sel ca
|
셀카
|
photographic self-portrait
|
In conclusion, please learn to
avoid shortening English expressions unnecessarily.
It isn’t always true, but often
and especially when it comes to shortened Fusion English, it’s much better to just
say the complete original English word than to make a big mistake trying to cut
the word.
Hope You Learned
Something!
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