Many American words have been shortened in Japanese –maskomu for “mass communication”, komu for “computer”, terebi for “television”.
The Japanese enthusiasm for baseball (beisuboru) is equal to that of the United States. Their versions of American baseball terms include:
Boru ball
Sutoriku strike
Batto bat
Pitchingu pitcher
Ranna runner
Kyatcha catcher
Auto! Out!
Seifu! Safe!
Hoomurun home run
Japanese includes hundreds of English words for non-japanese foods, among them:
Supu soup
Hotto dogu hot dog
Sandoichi sandwich
Suteiki steak
Hambagu hamburger
Biru beer
Uisuki whisky
Desato dessert
Pai pie
Aisukurimu ice cream
Koka-cora ?
Within the United States itself there exists a linguistic pocket, the Navaho-speaking lands, which steadfastly refuse to adopt any English-language imports, even mechanical terms. A car is called a chidí for the noise it makes; its parts are named as if the car were an animal. The other parts of the chidí have the following meanings in Navaho:
Headlights the eyes of the chidí
Brakes you pull a cord against the chidí
Carburetor the heart of the chidí
Wheels the legs of the chidí
Tires the moccasins of the chidí
Gasoline the juice for the chidí
Radiator in the front of the chidí it whirls around
In Navaho a Caterpillar tractor is called “the chidí that crawls around”, and an airplane is “a chidí that flies here and there.”
The Navaho word for “train” means “many wagons, no horse”.
