Possibly weird translation

Japanese Language
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Spoilers for Season 2 of the Arrow TV series

I’ll still be a bit vague about the plot just in case. At some point in the series, something from Japan from WW2 is found. This thing is named Mirakuru, translated as miracle.

Now, this really feels like someone put the word “Miracle” in Google Translate and copy pasted the result. It seems unlikely to me that Japanese people from before 1945 used an anglicized name for their invention, especially when the English-speaking world was their enemy during WW2.

Am I correct in assuming that this translation is a farce? Or did the Japanese actually use English words in their daily vocabulary even back then?

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Ah, no, it’s unquestionably ミラクル, despite their atrocious pronunciation, even for Americans. I couldn’t comment on the likelihood of English loanwords being used in WWII, but keep in mind Japan were allies in WWI, so yeah, it’s quite possible. Japan had 82 English language schools as far back as 1874.

The equvalent version from the comics appears to be named Miraclo, and that made its first appearance back in 1940.

P.S. You may want to mention that it’s season two spoilers. Almost didn’t open it, because I’m not up-to-date on the current season.

1 Like
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Ah, that could make sense then technically, though I still doubt they hired a Japanese language expert :sweat_smile:

And thanks for the tip

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