While half the dictionary seems to consist of French, Latin and Greek derivations, there is comparatively less calque from other languages which have made it into the book. Next to a few examples from German (doppelganger angst, zeitgeist leitmotif, blitzkrieg rucksack) and the famous Czech robot and Indian bungalow, I’m having a hard time to think of other kitsch examples and schmuck words. Can you?
Hi Ralf,
since I´m no native speaker I can´t really be sure but from what I´ve heard “kindergarten, autobahn and kraut” are borrowed words from the German.
Hi, Ralf
If you’re willing to know English words of Russian origin, I can throw in a few I can think of off the cuff.
- Kasha = porridge
- Vodka (no need to explain)
- Balalaika = a plucked musical instrument
Hi Alex,
I play the guitar, but don’t really know how to picture a typical Balalaika sound. Do you pick (pluck) or strum (play all strings at once) it?
I’ve never played it myself, but I saw on TV how people play it - they pluck (or pull) at strings with their fingers. Actually it is entertaining to observe how musicians handle it. 
Heya,
Any kebapche fans out there?
Cheers
It is so funny how words from other languages become part of the English language.
According to Wikipedia, the word ketchup derives from China or Malaysia. In any event, it does not have European roots. I also am assuming you are not concerned about words like “sushi,” “kimono,” or other words we have adopted to refer to Asian style foods or products.
Would “Nirvana” count, by the way?
Rick
There are a lot of “food” words which have come to us directly from German.
Frankfurter, hamburger, bratwurst, liverwurst, knockwurst, and wiener are all commonly used words on this side of the pond. (The final two are also spelled knackwurst and weiner.) NYC in particular is also well-known for its delicatessens (commonly referred to as a ‘deli’).
It is also not unusual to see the word ‘putsch’ used in American English. And I grew up saying “Gesundheit!” whenever I heard someone sneeze.
.
In Malaysia we call soy sauce kicap/ketchup. And as far as I know, ketchup in the American culture refers to what we call tomato/chili sauce.
Hi Nina,
Good to see you again!
I also think the English word ‘ketchup’ is just from the Malay word you mentioned, meaning fish sauce. Am I right?
By the way, Nina, what do you mean by ‘good things’? How do you define ‘good’? I feel power and money don’t always go to good people. Maybe you don’t put these things into your good category (half kidding)
Haihao
Haihao, wow, it has been eons!
How are you? Genkisou ni kikoeru kedo.
Well, I am not sure about where the word ketchup originated, but I’m pretty sure kicap has nothing fishy in it. :lol:
But you are right about good people not getting power and money. Guess what? I think power and money will come to the ones who wish for it.
And ‘good things’ to me is ‘something wonderful’. (I’m a bit romantic at heart)
So let’s rephrase the whole sentence again; Be a good person and something wonderful will come to you.
Now, got it?(half kidding) :lol:
And by asking me the definition of ‘good’ I think you are insinuating that the definition varies depending on a person’s principle and how he defines life/happiness.
Well, at least I think that you are suggesting to me just that.
You are right, Nina, and I am glad to hear from you again.
I saw an article in newspaper introduced that there is a book( I forgot what the name is but it’s a chinese book) listed out all those “borrowed words” of English, the author also did all those surveys by finding out all those sources from other encyclopedias. And the passage adapted from the book is about the “ketchup”, at first people thought that this word is originally from Hong Kong which is known cantonese is used over there. But then they found out that this word comes from Malay and then they lastly knew that this word is originally from Hokkien which is a dialect of chinese. As chinese and malay in Malaysia interacts with each other, definitely their language will mix a little bit. Afterwards this word is spread to India and then to Europe. This is only part of the story, is it very ineteresting? 8)
That’s very cool, Linghong. But check this out from Wiki:
List of English words of Malay origin
Do you know all of them? Now the famous ones that I know are paddy, sarong and amok. But to tell you the truth, some of them I don’t even know about.
Oh yes, I cannot believe this:
Too hilarious. :lol:
sarong is something you wear in the
beach to cover your swimming attire
when you are in the beach,
thats what the meaning of sarong to me,
something like this
paddy and amok,hhhhhhhhhmmmmmmmmmmmm
never heard,
will what about spaghetti?
it is originally from what language?
i want some ideas about it…
Well, that is how what the Malay call “orang putih”, literally white people, wear sarong. If you want to know how Malay women/men wear sarong check this out:
raykinzoku.fotopages.com/?entry=554574
I have two sarongs and 1 male sarong (very huge, I usually wear it during prayer to cover the lower part of my body). My mother has dozens, so does my father(actually that male sarong was my father’s, just a reason to take a piece of him here with me).
But it is a pity, youngsters nowadays can’t wear it without having someone poking fun on them.
Hello nina,
Its nice to know that sarong is have many usage, in you, you use it during prayer time, to us here in the Philippines sarong is commonly wear during summer time specially in the beaches during swimming time, as what i have said sarong is the one being put to cover the lower part of the swimming suit being wear by the who wants to swim, but it is commonly use by females and not of males. but there are some male like to use it also especially the gay one. :lol:
In the village, we used to wear sarong to bath at the well outside in the backyard. But most people have water supplied to their home thru pipe nowadays. Still, the place where we bath and wash clothes is still outside the house, with little cover, so we wear sarong up to the breast level to bath or wash. I’m sure you are also used to seeing this custom.
It is a common thing in the village, but I am never used to it. So I have to be dragged everytime my parents wanted me to visit the village where my grandmother lives. Everytime I need to go to the toilet or wash myself, I wanted to die…(just exaggerating). It is just so mind-blowing, at least to me, that the act that is as intimate as washing oneself is carried out in public. Well, not really public, but open to passers-by.