This week’s #KatakanaEnglish is slightly different. Instead of focusing on foreign words that have changed their meaning, we have selected 5 every day (loan)words that you will hear in a Japanese office and might make you giggle.
オフィス変 (ofisu hen) literally means “weird in the office”. It is a bit of a wordplay as hen can also mean “series” if written 編.
ブレスト (buresuto)
From brainstorm. Japanese people very often shorten words, and this is just one example.
→ Let’s ブレスト.
アフター５ (afutā faibu)
From after five, and it refers to any activity done after work, in your free time.
The civil servants schedule used to be from 9 to 5, and this practice spread to private companies in Japan. It’s still used even if you usually work until later than 5.
→ What do you do in your アフター5?
ハンドリング (handoringu)
From handling, although to manage a project or a client, for instance, would be a better translation. It’s always in the -ing form.
→ I would like to ask you to do the ハンドリング of this client.
リスケ (risuke)
Another example of a shortened word, from reschedule and not the French word risqué.
→ Do you mind if we リスケ our meeting?
キャッチー (kyacchī)
From catchy, and it refers to something difficult to forget or that made an impression on you.
→ That product’s name is very キャッチー; I won’t forget it.
Illustrations are made by Natsumi SATO (Ms.). You can contact her at natsumi@wovn.io
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