Man-to-man lesson, virgin road: English made in Japan

    Kyoko is a student in one of my afternoon classes. It is quite a small class with only 3 members. Last week, Kyoko's two classmates phoned me to say that they were busy and had to miss class. So, when Kyoko arrived for her lesson, I said to her, "The others can't come today so, it looks like it's going to be a man-to-man lesson," and then I added (jokingly), "or should I say man-to-woman?"

    After I'd said that I realised that I had used a Japanese-English expression. In English, we don't say man-to-man lesson. We usually say private lesson or one-to-one lesson.

    The phrase, man-to-man exists in English, but usually in the expression man-to-man talk. According to the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, it means a talk "between two men who are treating each other honestly and equally."

      Example:
      A father and son have been having communication problems. The father decides that they must do something about it, so the father goes up to the son when his mother is out and says, "OK. Let's sit down and talk about this man-to-man. You tell me what's on your mind and I'll tell you what's on my mind."

    There are several other words and phrases which have been transferred from English to Japanese and changed their meanings. There are also other gairaigo words and phrases which sound English but are really Japanese. Below is a short gairaigo quiz. Try it and then click at the bottom to check your answers.

Gairaigo Quiz

  1. A company worker in Japan is often called a salaryman. Is salaryman a real English word?

  2. Western-style wedding ceremonies are now very popular in Japan. In Japanese, the path leading from the door of the church or chapel to the altar is often referred to as the virgin road. Is it called virgin road in English, too?

  3. When a restaurant or pub is getting ready to close, people in Japan sometimes use the expression order stop. What do they say in English-speaking countries?

  4. Recently, I visited a Japanese bar that I hadn't been into for a long time. The landlady (mama-san) was quite pleased and, after I'd ordered my first bottle of beer, she gave another bottle for free. She told me it was service. What would she have said if she were from an English-speaking country?

  5. SMAP are currently one of the most popular entertainment groups in Japan. The members can sing, dance, act, tell jokes and even cook gourmet meals. People who can do many different things are often called almighty in Japan. What are they called in English-speaking countries?

  6. Entertainers like Joji Tokoro, Tamori, Dave Spector, Kuniko Yamada and Rie Shibata are often called terebi tarento. How is the word, talent, used in English and how do you say terebi tarento?

    After you've thought about these questions, click here to check your answers and to read my comments.

    There are a lot of other one-point lessons on this web-site. Click here if you want to try some more of them.

    © Robert E. Jones, 2003