Native English speakers often make fun of Japanese English. I did too, until I was doing research one day on a paper about Japanese English, and I came across a statement that has forever changed how I do research. It said, "Japanese English is not English. It is Japanese. Japanese English is for Japanese, and used by Japanese." That makes sense. It's not English. It may have it's origin in English, but it ceased to be English when the Japanese exercised their creative license on it. And what's wrong with that? I realized that most Japanese don't give a hoot if either Japanese English or weird English phrases used in advertising are actually grammatically correct English. Why? Because it was made for them, to be used by them.
I don't make fun of Japanese English at all. I love it as being incredibly creative, and I want to meet the geniuses who made it up. I mean, in most cases, even if you have never heard the word, you can kind of figure it out because it is so straightforward. Think about it. It makes much more sense for a baby to sleep in a baby bed (Japanese English) than a crib (English.) Taking a drive in an open car sounds much more appealing than hopping into a convertible (English.) And last of all, I must give yet another shout out to my favorite Japanese English word of all, pipe cut (vasectomy) I love the practicality of this word so much that, if I were the President of the United States, I would totally get rid of the word vasectomy and replace it in every dictionary with pipe cut. Anyways, let's take a little time here for a lesson in Japanese English.
1. "My." Any phrase which uses the English word "my" is more than likely Japanese English. "My car," "my hashi" (chopsticks) "my pace" "my home," "my bag." The variations are endless, and new combinations are continuing to invade the Japanese langauge. Unlike in English where "my" means "belonging to the speaker," in the Japanese English usage, it means "one's own," In other words, "my car" could mean, well, my car, your car, his car, his grandmother's car, or even his grandmother's sister's best friend's car.
Although Japanese has a native term for the English equivalent of "my," (watashi no), it is seen as much stronger and more selfish than the lighter English "my." Interesting, right?
2. Up. Any Japanese phrase using the English word "up" is more than likely Japanese English. Some examples of this are skill up, level up, bust up, hip up, base up, etc. I am sure you would like to know the perfect English word for all of these, but alas, it totally depends on the context.
4. Sports Terms. Since most sports come from abroad into Japan, it makes sense that much of the vocabiulary does too. There are tons, but I'm just going to list my favorites.
フライング (false start)
ヘディング (header)
ランニングホームラン (inside-the-park homerun)
デッドボール (hit-by-pitch)
ストレート(fastball)
サヨナラホームラン (walk-off homerun)
グラウンド (sports field or pitch)
ナイスシュート！(Nice shot!)
バッティングセンター(Batting cages)
５。スローガン。日本の会社は広告のスローガンで和製英語をよく使う。今日話したいのは二つある。まず、日立の「Inspire the Next。」聞いたことあるやろう？日本中、どこ見てもこのスローガンをよく見るやん。英語の響きは相当いい。Inspireは日本語で「感動させる」、「奮い立たせる] だ。このスローガンの狙っている意味はわかりますか。私が思うのは、「次の世代を奮い立たせよう」だ。でも文法的な問題がわかる？英語では、[next]は形容詞だ。だから、[next]の後に絶対に名詞が来ないと。そうしないと、「Inspire the next?????」何？の意味になる。日本語でいうと、「次の。。。。を奮い立たせよう。」
ずっと、このスローガンを見るたびに不思議に思った。なぜ、このデカくて、お金持ち日立は、全国に拡散するスローガンの英語チェックしなかったと？今日は答えがわかった。色々調べた結果、Inspire the Next は世界中のスローガンだということだ。相当ビックリした。このかっこいい英語は、日本人だけじゃなくて、世界中の人々の心に響くからマジインパクトが強い。だから、英語間違えてもいい。間違えたほうがいい。
考えて。マックの [I'm Loving It] もそう。文法は微妙におかしいけど、おかしいからこそ頭に残る。アディダスの [Impossible is nothing] もそうバイ。文法的に [Nothing is impossible] は正しいけど、単語の並び順を逆にするインパクトは半端ない。だって、英語がおかしいスローガンは、絶対に忘れないやろう。だから、こういうことを作文で書いたら先生に怒られるけど、マーケティングの仕事で使ったら昇進される。最後に言いたいのは、英語が苦手な日本人は、絶対に [Inspire the Next Generation] を覚え切らん。そうやろう？やっぱり日立、マック、アディダスは天才だ。
5. Slogans. The last thing I want to talk about is two slogans used all over Japan. The first one is the slogan "Inspire the Next." There is probably no one in Japan that hasn't seen this slogan on a sign or in a commercial. Sounds really powerful, doesn't it? In English, the word "inspire" means to motivate someone to do something great. I am not sure, but I suspect that Hitachi's intended meaning is "Inspire the Next Generation." But do you see the problem with the English grammar? "Next" is an adjective, and in this sentence, coming after the verb "inspire," must be followed by a noun. Without it, you are left thinking, "Inspire the next what??"
I had always wondered why Hitachi didn't make an effort to have a native speaker check a slogan that was to be used in a nationwide ad campaign. I know they have access to both English speakers and money. But today as I researched this online I found out why. It's not a Japanese English slogan after all, but a global one. I can't believe it. But if you think about it, it's genius. Bad English will stick in the heads of English speakers too.
Take the McDonalds slogan "I'm loving it." We normally wouldn't use the present continuous for "love" like that, but that slogan rings in the head of people all over the world. And the Adidas slogan "Impossible is Nothing" is genius as well, although your grammar teacher would cover your essay in red if you ever wrote that in an essay. So it turns out, Hitachi, Adidas, and McDonalds don't care about bad English--in fact it's probably deliberate. Bad grammar seems to sell whatever language you speak. And after all, the English-complex ladened Japanese would have a horrible time remembering, "Inspire the Next Generation" anyway. Right? The marketing department at McDonalds, Hitachi, and Adidas are geniuses.
もう一つは、ヤマダ電機のスローガン「For Your Just.」日本語に訳するとバリバリかっこいい。「あなたにちょうどいい」けど、日立のスローガンと同じように文法はめちゃくちゃだ。けど、日立の場合、名詞を付けるだけで素敵な英語になる。でもこのスローガンは問題だらけだ。justの後に名詞を付けてても、意味がわからんまま。実は、「あなたにちょうどいい」のぴったり英語がない。一生懸命考えたけど、やっぱりない。[Just right for you] はあり得るけど、なんか、ダサイ。結論は、問題だらけの [For Your Just] を使いなさい。日本人はかっこいいと思っているからさ。
Do you know the slogan on the side of every Yamada Denki Electronics store in Japan? It is "For Your Just." Sounds really cool if you translate it directly into Japanese, but just like the Hitachi slogan, this one is a huge grammatical mess. It is actually much worse. You can fix the Hitachi slogan merely by adding a noun, but for this one, even if you add a noun it is still a mess. In fact, there is no good English translation for the Japanese phrase, "Anata ni chodo ii." I thought hard, but the best I could come up with was "Just right for you" I guess the grammar is okay, but it is sonot cool. So, my conclusion is, Yamada Denki should just keep on using "For Your Just." Because, hey, the Japanese think it is cool.
といういわけで、アンちゃんの和製英語講座が終了いたしました。勉強になったろう？外来語（カタカナ用語）は日本語の１０％だ。和製英語を加えると, それ以上にある。外来語と和製英語は英語を習っている日本人を混乱させるかもしれんけど、ほかの国の人と比べると、英語の由来がある単語を沢山知っている。外来語と和製英語を区別することができるようになったら、どんだけ英語がうまくなるやろう？頑張ってね！アンちゃん准教授は応援しているからさ。和製英語は日本人の性格にちょうどいいやね。やっぱりFor your justを使わざるを得ないバイ。
So there you have it. Anne Sensei's Japanese English class is done. I hope you learned something you didn't know. Foreign loanwords borrowed from Western languages make up 10% of the Japanese vocabulary, and it is even more if you add in Japanese English. And while both loanwords and Japanese English terms have the potential to confuse Japanese learners of English, just think how awesome of an English speaker you would be if you could learn to separate real English from Japanese English. You can do it! Anne Sensei is cheering you on. I think that Japanese English fits the Japanese character perfectly. Yeah, it is for their just.
