Anyone else have katakana words that you feel are just a pain in the butt?
Like, for me I hated アレルギー for so long because I kept saying アレギー instead when I thought about what “allergy” should sound like in katakana to me.
Or the one that’s been getting me recently is コストコ because to me it sounds almost exactly the same as it does in English, but when I accidentally say “Costco” instead and everyone gives me blank stares, I have to backtrack and add all the extra vowels in, which is fine except for the fact that I have to overemphasize the vowels for me to say it correctly, which makes me feel like I’m making fun of them for not understanding even though I’m not.
マクドナルド is also a super hard one for me since I have to think about it really hard to say it correctly and always end up taking a ridiculously long time to get through the world lol.
I know it’s not about Japanese, but this happens in other languages as well.
Recently, I was at a random bar in the United States. (I’m Mexican)
And two of the beers were in Spanish.
So, I just said, “I’ll have a Tiniebla (this part without any accent, as we would say it).”
And the guy was like. “El técnico?” (The other one)
Even though they don’t sound anything alike.
And I was like, “Tiniebla.” And he went, “Oh, Tiniebla!”
I don’t know, mostly posted this to say that it happens a lot and with different languages, so don’t think too much about it.
It’s obvious you know how to pronounce it, but it’s a different word (or different way to say it) for them.
Last night I mentioned the word デジタル and also talked about “digital” in English, and my girlfriend was shocked that the pronunciation in English was different. She had totally expected it to sound basically the same.
This reminds me of when sports announcers see foreign player names and just make stuff up. Not like using the wrong ‘a’ sound (which would make sense since they don’t know the language), but things like replacing an ‘a’ with an ‘e’ for no reason.
For me it would have to be ランチ. I can’t wrap my head around it meaning ‘lunch’. When I read it, I wonder why the people are talking about eating ranch dressing. (I realize it can also mean ranch).
I really just cannot wrap my head (or tongue) around パソコン I get the neither PC or Personal Computer roll of a Japanese speaking tongue easily, but パソコン is just as bad for me.
(Sorry I didn’t mean to reply directly to seanblue)
The is also コップ vs カップ. I still have some confusion of what is what, but the latest version is:
コップ
カップ
Reason: コップ was first imported into Japan, I think it was from the Dutch and should be kop. At the time they didn’t do handles. (Apparently the Dutch use the word for either of the above vessels.)
Later Japan imported cup from English as カップ strictly for vessels with handle, which doesn’t happen in the word cup itself.
This one is usually the diminutive kopje (edit: or kop en schotel ) , but basically the same word. To add to the confusion, コップ can also be a mug, like so:
So the ones that don’t use a saucer.
This one you can also call a グラス, but NOT a ガラス because that is the kind of glass that sits in your windowpane.
“El técnico?” (The other one)
“Tiniebla.” And he went, “Oh, Tiniebla!”
I try not to, on principle.
)
) , but basically the same word. To add to the confusion, コップ can also be a mug, like so: