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The Japanese Words That Disappear
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New words added to a dictionary reflect not only technological changes, but also social changes, and the mindset of their place and time. The same can be said about words that disappear.
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On the 17th of December 2021, the Japanese dictionary Sanseido will publish its new edition in eight years. 3,500 new words enter the dictionary—while 1,100 of them disappear.
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The criteria in determining whether to add or keep a word in the dictionary are: “Are people using it in their daily lives?” and “Is it just a trend or is it going to be used for a long time?”
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Among the 1,100 words to disappear in this edition is the word “kogyaru.” This term was mainly used to refer to a specific kind of female fashion especially popular during the ‘90s. Nowadays, the phenomenon as it used to be 30 years ago has disappeared, but not the spirit of fashionable and free-spirited young females. So, the term mainly used to express it today, “gyaru,” remains in the dictionary.
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Other disappearing words include “keiban,” an abbreviation for “keitai bango” (cellphone number). In current Japan, where exchanging LINE IDs has replaced exchanging phone numbers (LINE is the most used messaging application in Japan), that piece of slang has faded away. In that context, it is surprising that the word “tereka” (prepaid landline phone card) also disappears in this edition and not sooner.
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Among the 3,500 words making their entry this time, we can find the word “sosharudistansu” - social distancing. We can only hope that this word becomes useless very soon.
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If you found that interesting,
you will enjoy the following articles
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Kotodama can be roughly translated as “word spirit” and refers to the belief that words contain spiritual power: the Japanese believe that words have the power to influence one person’s environment, occurring events, and mind.
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The Japanese language has many words and expressions that are English sounding, but 100% made in Japan. Here are a few examples from the business world.
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Although there are endless permutations of 2,136 joyo kanji characters to memorize before you can achieve Japanese literacy, there are tools and methodologies that make this feat possible.
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Here are two of the most popular ways for busy professionals to learn kanji and how you can determine which method is right for you.
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