Re: NATLANG Q?: Dutch,etc. for "Pangaea" & "Gaia, etc.

Sarah Marie Parker-Allen <lloannna at SURFSIDE.NET> wrote:

>The LA Times did a big article about this back in December (I linked to it
>from my blog, even).  There are a lot of words that have dictionary
>translations in Japanese, but young people are choosing to use English
words
>instead.  It's creating confusion, as there are a lot of two-syllable type
>words that already have a close relative in Japanese.
I remember encountering a lot of these in Japanese class in high school.
It's almost a shame to encounter a huge string of English words even though
the Japanese must have their own words for at least half of them. And the
Japanese words would probably be shorter, and definitely more immediately
understood by Japanese speakers. Younger people tend to pick up language
quicker, so I imagine such overkatakanification isn't a problem them. But
for their parents, it must be like being in A Clockwork Orange, and all the
teenagers speaking Nadsat.

M