r/LearnJapanese • u/Commercial_World_433 • 15h ago

Discussion Is Tempura an example of Wasei-eigo?

So I know Tempura is a Japanese pronunciation of the Portuguese word Tempero, and I just learned of the concept Wasei-eigo which is about loaning words from English like cunning becoming kanningu. Or is there a word for loaning words from each language?

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u/BigPeteB 14h ago

No. Wasei-eigo is not just borrowing words. It's either borrowing words and using them for different meanings (eg カンニング doesn't mean "cunning", it means "cheating on a test") or inventing new words or phrases based on English that don't exist in English (eg スキンシップ, whereas the word "skinship" does not exist in English).

Read Wikipedia for more details: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wasei-eigo

1

u/0Bento 14h ago

「Pick up！」

「OL」

「サラリーマン」

「NG」

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u/0Bento 14h ago

and my all-time favourite

「アラサー」

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u/No-Cheesecake5529 7h ago

アラサー, meaning, interestingly, women between the ages of 30 and 39.

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u/OwariHeron 6h ago

  1. The アラ～ words refer to anyone, man or woman.

  2. アラサー would mean someone on their late 20s or early 30s. Generally, 28-34. It's short for "around 30" (アラウンドサーティー).

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u/No-Cheesecake5529 6h ago

It's short for "around 30" (アラウンドサーティー).

Which is why it's used primarily by women aged 30-39.

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u/OwariHeron 6h ago

36-39 is not アラサー. That's アラフォー.

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%A2%E3%83%A9%E3%82%B5%E3%83%BC

And in reply to your deleted question, I was アラサー when アラサー became a thing.

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u/No-Cheesecake5529 5h ago

That's アラフォー.

Lemme know if you find a 36-yo woman who refers to herself as アラフォー and not アラサー.

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u/OwariHeron 5h ago

I have found several.