From ‘senpai’ to ‘love hotel’: 11 new loanwords from Japanese enter the Oxford English Dictionary

4 comments

1. Neat, though I concur with some of the criticism the article raises. I wonder what percentage of native English speakers have ever heard and understood the word “mottainai” for instance.

2. Senpai entering English without kouhai smh

3. despite knowing japanese and experiencing a ton of japanese learners using mixed language words, i’ve never heard ekiden, pechakucha, or washlet in either language, and absolutely never heard mottainai in any english context ever.

   also i’ve been using naginata for decades, at least in fantasy reading and role playing game contexts, this is not a new word in any way, it’s bizarre it wasn’t already in the dictionary.

   also sempai but no kohai, really?

   who is even saying these words? seriously, what subsection of english speakers have any use of these? i’ve seen zero even as a japanese studier and avid japanese media enthusiast.

4. How is “brush pen” not English? 

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