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Borrowing into English

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mutmut3
 
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:16 am
My students posed this question, and I was stumped--embarrassingly so! (I could come up w/lots of "older" words, but nothing recent.) Confused

We hear so much about all the English words being borrowed into other languages, esp in computers & business--what recent borrowings have come into English that are of common usage?
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dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:27 am
Goodness - I am too!

I can think of a few words that are not actually recently borrowed, but seem to be becoming more widely used - Schadenfreude comes to mind.

Is United States English becoming more influenced by Spanish, as Latino populations increase?

I am sure other people will come with better ideas and information!
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mutmut3
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:37 am
Schadenfreude, Gemuetlichkeit, Angst, are all "older words" borrowed from German
As far as Spanish, aside from food-related ones (e.g. tacos, burritos), and older ones (hacienda) I find the influence more the other way: English into Spanish, such as el roofo.
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:47 am
The entertainment field has popularized a lot of Yiddish words that are now common in English. Among the most common:

mishugah- nuts, crazy

kvetch- complain

shmatta- Literally "rag", but used as a synonym for ladies clothes, as in "He's in the shmatta business".

shmuck- er, jerk!
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:47 am
I'm not quite sure, but "automat" seems to be a rather new entry from German.
('Waldsterben' is obviuously still used as a foreign word.)
'Pils' or 'Pilsner' (instead of 'lager') is German as well.
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Phoenix32890
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 09:51 am
From the Italian- Agita- indigestion
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 10:48 am
Bookmark.
No that's not an answer, I'm thinking.
Takes me a while.
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joefromchicago
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 11:17 am
"Perestroika" and "glasnost" are fairly recent additions from Russia.

"Yakuza" and "karaoke" from Japan.

"Mezzaluna" (as a kitchen utensil) from Italy.

and, of course, "Schwarzenegger" from Austria Wink

dlowan, I thought of "schadenfreude" as well. Never heard that used until about five or six years ago.

Walter, I'm not sure what kind of "automat" you're referring to. There used to be "automats" (self-serve diners) in every major city in America back in the 1940s-50s, but I don't think they exist any more.
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 11:30 am
joefromchicago wrote:

Walter, I'm not sure what kind of "automat" you're referring to. There used to be "automats" (self-serve diners) in every major city in America back in the 1940s-50s, but I don't think they exist any more.


Hmmh, didn't know that this German was interned :wink:

joefromchicago wrote:
dlowan, I thought of "schadenfreude" as well. Never heard that used until about five or six years ago.


I've an online source (in German, without giving any further details] that 'Schadenfreude' was first introduced to English (here: England) as early as 1852.
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rufio
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 11:39 am
Plaza is Spanish, and there's those Yiddish words that were already mentioned - there's also a bunch of West African words borrowed into ebonics slang, but I can't remember quite what they are. Lots of food names are borrowed from other languages too (saukraut, blintz, taco, quesadilla, etc etc).
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Ceili
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 12:31 pm
Lots of American black slang (mispronunciation) - phrasology is now common in the english language. Dis, ax me Jerry,
Arabic - jihad,
Hindi - shampoo, bungalo, pajama
Hawaiian - luau, poi

Most new editions to the english language that I can think of are related either to food, music or product names.
the lambada, dobro, swiffer, kleenex
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 12:36 pm
Well, I thought the question was about "recent borrowings" - if we consider e.g. 'blitz' and 'lambada' to that category, there are certainly numerous to add. :wink:
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roger
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 12:40 pm
Borrowed into? That sounds like "Can you borrow me a dollar?" when you clearly mean, "Can you lend me a dollar?" Am I wrong on this?
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Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 12:45 pm
Yes, you are wrong here, roger:
Quote:

Main Entry: bor·row
Pronunciation: 'bär-(")O, 'bor-
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English borwen, from Old English borgian; akin to Old English beorgan to preserve -- more at BURY
Date: before 12th century
[...]
4 : to adopt into one language from another
[...]
0 Replies
 
hobitbob
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 03:40 pm
Other Arabicisms that were common in the English of my parents:
Shufti (Take a shufti at that!)
Baksheesh (Forty dollars, thats a lot of baksheesh!)
etc...
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 04:17 pm
What about Indian words.
Somebody mentioned bungalow.
From Bangalore?
Jodphurs
Gymkhana
Khaki

Doo-lally, English (jocular) meaning mad (American, crazy) from Deolali (sanitorium, India)

Char (meaning tea, the drink) from Chinese "cha"

Just recently, we have learned burqa (sp?) the mohammedan female veil.
And, kaffiyeh, the shawl worn by Palestinians.
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hobitbob
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 04:19 pm
Ahhhh...Chai....Very Happy
0 Replies
 
hobitbob
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 04:20 pm
Let's also not forget Latte, expresso, cappucino, macchiato, venti, grande, breve....
Hmmm..going to go make cofee now. Very Happy
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McTag
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 04:30 pm
Rucksac
abseil
wanderlust
schnitzel
kindergarten
0 Replies
 
Walter Hinteler
 
  1  
Reply Fri 10 Oct, 2003 10:53 pm
Did you know, btw, that 'boulevard' is German as well? The French borrowed it from the German 'bollwerk' = buwark.
0 Replies
 
 

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