Pseudo-anglicism

Pseudo-anglicisms are words in languages other than English which were borrowed from English but are used in a way native English speakers would not readily recognize or understand. Pseudo-anglicisms often take the form of portmanteaux, combining elements of multiple English words to create a new word that appears to be English but is unrecognisable to a native speaker. It is also common for a genuine English word to be used to mean something completely different from its original meaning.

Pseudo-anglicisms are related to false friends or false cognates. Many speakers of a language which employs pseudo-anglicisms believe that the relevant words are genuine anglicisms and can be used in English.

When many English words are incorporated into many languages, language enthusiasts and purists often look down on this phenomenon, terming it (depending on the importing language) Denglisch, Franglais or similar neologisms.

Pseudo-anglicisms in various languages

General

In Italian, French and Spanish footing means "jogging".
In Italian and French sig is used in cartoons to denote a sigh.
In many European languages a smoking is not a smoking jacket in the Edwardian sense, but a "dinner-jacket" or "tuxedo".
In many European languages (such as Dutch, German, French and Russian) the word string refers exclusively to a G-string.
In many European languages, the term light soft drink refers to a diet soft drink.

Chinese

BB call - pager
DM - flyer, brochure, junk mail (from "direct mail")
kou - to photocopy (from the first syllable in "copy")

Danish

Babylift (IPA: [b̥eɪb̥ilifd̥]) — "carrycot".
A bøfsandwich (IPA: [b̥ø:fsɑnʋitɕ]) is not a beef sandwich, but a beef patty on a bun (similar to a hamburger).
Drink (IPA: [d̥ʁeŋg̊]) only means an alcoholic drink containing spirits (it is mainly used in the sense of cocktails).

Dutch

Beamer (also German) — video projector
Box - (large, toddler-sized) cot
Camping (also French, Italian, Russian and Spanish) — campsite
Coffeeshop — a store selling cannabis (or, colloquially, other psychedelic drugs)
Drugs refers exclusively to narcotics (not to medicines in general)
Dumpstore meaning an army surplus store
Fish sticks - fish fingers (BrE)
The word flat is often used to refer to a block of flats. What the British call "flat" is called appartement in Dutch.
Happy end (also Czech, German, French and Russian) — happy ending
Oldtimer (also German) — vintage car
Panty (also in Spanish) - panty hose
Playbacken (the noun playback being also used also in French and Spanish) — lip-synching [a song]
Pocketboek or just Pocket for what is commonly known as a paperback
Skeeleren — inline skating. Sometimes the 5 wheel speedskates are called 'skeelers' in Dutch.
Skelter — a pedal-driven soapbox (car)
Songtekst ("tekst" being a native Dutch word) (also German) — lyrics
Topfit (also German) — perfectly physically fit

French

Auto-stop (also in Italian, Russian, Romanian) — Hitchhiking
Baby Foot — Table football
Baskets (also in Romanian)— sneakers, trainers (basketball shoes).
Une voiture Break or un Break — a station wagon (American), an estate car (English) - cf. shooting break
Break - Je fais un break = I rest
Caddy — shopping trolley
Camping (also in Dutch, Italian, Russian, Romanian ) — campsite
Camping-car — Campervan or "recreational vehicle" (also used in Japanese).
Car — coach
The noun catch refers to professional wrestling. It is also used occasionally in Italian, even though it is often considered to be a little old-fashioned.
Chamallow — Marshmallow
Clip - (Music) video
Flipper (also Dutch and German and Italian) — Pinball Machine
Foot — Football (soccer)
- In Canadian French, this would refer to Canadian football, or sometimes in context to American football. Association football is le soccer.
Jogging — Tracksuit (jogging suit)
Lifting (also in Italian, Romanian and German)— facelift
Newsbreak - news update
Parking (also in Russian) — parking lot (car park)
People — celebs (sometimes spelt pipeuls, pipols)
Playback (also in Italian and Spanish; the verb playbacken being also used in Dutch) - lip-synch
Pom Pom girl — cheerleader
Pressing - Dry cleaning shop
Recordman, recordwoman - record holder
Relooking - makeover
Rugbyman - Rugby player
Self — self-service restaurant
Shampooing – shampoo
Talkie-walkie — walkie-talkie
T-Shirt or Tee-Shirt - Same sense
Tennisman, tenniswoman - Tennis player (male or female)

German

Backshop - a bakeshop (in fact a germanization of the English word since backen means baking in German)
Beamer (also Dutch) -- video projector
Beauty-Farm -- spa
Bodybag -- backpack (ironically, English has imported the German word Rucksack)
checken -- understand, realize
catchen -- professional wrestling (from "catch wrestling")
Dressman (also Dutch) -- (male) model
Ego-Shooter -- first-person shooter (derived from Latin "Ego" = "I")
Flipper (also Dutch and French and Italian) -- pinball machine
Foto-Shooting -- photo session
Funeralmaster -- undertaker
Funsport -- a sport primarily practised in leisure time and for fun
Handy -- mobile phone
Happy-End (also Dutch) -- happy ending
Horrortrip -- bad trip (psychedelic crisis)
Highboard -- table-high cupboard
Inliner -- Rollers (shoes) (not strictly a pseudo-anglicism as the sport is also called 'inline skating' in English)
Logical -- riddle/puzzle to be solved by logical thought
Longseller -- long-term (best)seller
Oldtimer (also Dutch) -- vintage car
Pullunder -- sweater vest
Puzzle (also French and Spanish) and Dutch) - jigsaw puzzle
Rocker -- biker
Shooting-Star -- successful newcomer
Songtext ("Text" being a native German word) (also Dutch) -- 'lyrics'
Showmaster -- show host
Talkmaster -- talk show host
topfit (also Dutch) -- perfectly physically fit
Twen -- anyone who is in his/her twenties, or the age itself
Wellness -- feeling well by expensive means (spa, ...)

Hungarian

Farmer means "denim" as well as "(blue) jeans" made of denim.

Italian

Auto-stop (also in French, Russian, Romanian, Polish and Spanish) — Hitchhiking
Camper — Campervan or "recreational vehicle"
Camping (also in Dutch, French, Russian, Romanian and Spanish ) — campsite
The noun catch refers to professional wrestling even though it is often considered to be a little old-fashioned.
Charleston - Hi-hat
Flipper (also in French and German) — Pinball Machine
Lifting (also in French, Romanian and Spanish)— facelift
Playback (also in French, German, and Spanish; the verb playbacken being also used in Dutch) - lip-synch
Pullman — Coach
Telefilm - (also in Spanish) TV series
Hostess - female flight attendant

Japanese

Desk (デスク, desuku) — title for a person in office
Famicom (ファミコン, famikon) — video game, portmanteau of "family" and "computer"
Mansion (マンション, manshon) — a condominium apartment
Okushon (億ション) — luxury apartment (a pun in comparison with "mansion", since the Japanese oku means 10⁸ compared to man which is 10⁴)
Smart (スマート, sumaato) — slim or skinny
Style (スタイル, sutairu) — a woman's figure (particularly if slim or skinny)

Portuguese

Cooper - To jog.
Shopping - Shopping mall, using the English gerund as a noun

Russian

Biker (байкер) — a member of a Motorcycle club rather than merely a motorcyclist
Camping (кемпинг) (also Dutch French) — campsite
Clipmaker (клипмейкер) — music video director
Face control (фейс-контроль) — checking whether a person looks appropriate (a common practice at Russian night clubs)
Killer (киллер) — "hitman", "hired assassin" or "hatchet man"
Note-book (ноутбук) - Laptop computer
Parking (паркинг) — parking lot (car park)
Safing (сейфинг) — providing safe deposit boxes
Scotch (скотч) — Scotch tape

Spanish

Autostop (also in Italian, French, Russian, Romanian and Polish) — hitchhiking.
Body (also in French) — bodysuit, leotard.
Clip — music video.
Coal-less — G-string.
Fitness (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — fitness training as a kind of gymnastics.
Footing (also in French) — jogging.
Parking (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — parking lot (US) or car park (UK, Aus).
Panty or panti — "pantyhose".
Playback (common use but still not recognized by RAE, and also in French and Italian) — lip-synch.
Puzzle (also in French and German) — jigsaw puzzle.
Slip (also in French) — briefs.
Snow (common use but still not recognized by RAE) — an abbreviation for "snowboard" as sport. The board is called tabla de snow.
Telefilm (also in Italian) — TV series.

Swedish

Trafficking refers primarily to trafficking in human beings or sex trafficking, and not to smuggling in general.
The word walkman is usually replaced with "freestyle" (despite the fact that the word does not fit particularly well with Swedish phonotactics or grammar; actually, freestyle was the name chosen for marketing purposes in Sweden)

Turkish

Autostop in Turkish means "hitchhiking".
Body refers to "bodybuilding".
Coke (derivated from Coca-Cola) refers to a "soft drink".
Flirting is generally used as "dating".
Goal position in football means "scoring chance".
Playback is "lip sync".

References

Japanese English: Language And The Culture Contact, by James Stanlaw, Hong Kong University Press, 2004.

"Wasei eigo: English ‘loanwords' coined in Japan," by Laura Miller, in The Life of Language: Papers in Linguistics in Honor of William Bright, edited by Jane Hill, P.J. Mistry and Lyle Campbell, Mouton/De Gruyter: The Hague, pp. 123–139, 1997.

Geoff Parkes and Alan Cornell (1992), 'NTC's Dictionary of German False Cognates', National Textbook Company, NTC Publishing Group.

External links

Examples of Japanese pseudo-anglicisms