If you find yourself saying any of these words

stop and think again

They're not actually English.

They're Japanese.

Welcome to part two of the

'Are you using Japanese-English words?' series

In each episode, we look at some Japanese words

and figure out what we actually say in English.

So, let's get started!

In Japanese, it's called レンジ

but in English, we say microwave.

If you said レンジ in England or  another English-speaking country

we probably don't know what you're talking about.

However, while the words are very different

I can actually understand where  the confusion has come from.

So, a range is technically an  oven which has hobs attached

and an oven is where the hobs are not attached.

Actually, in England maybe everyone has a range

but we tend to use the word oven anyway.

I didn't know what a range was until  i did a little bit of research.

So, if you're talking about this it's microwave

and this is oven.

At first, I had no idea where this  Japanese-English word had come from.

It sounds like nothing I  would ever say in English.

In fact, the only word I can kind of hear

is the word kiss

and i thought maybe that's because  the two parts come together

and they kind of kiss.

But actually, after doing a little bit of research

I realized why I actually  don't know this word at all.

It comes from E.H. Hotchkiss

who was an American stapler maker.

The staplers were first imported to Japan in 1903

and I guess that's where the name has come from.

You might be surprised to learn that  this happens in quite a lot of languages.

For example, in England we  don't say vacuum cleaner.

We say hoover.

Hoover is just a brand name.

However, if you want your English to be understood

it's important that you call this a stapler.

This one always confuses me

and it's something you  should really be careful of.

This is ice.

If you go to a dessert shop and ask for ice

you can imagine what you're gonna get

and if you ask for chocolate  ice, that's even weirder.

So, if you want this, you really  need to use the word ice cream

and if you want this, you should say ice.

As a side note, if you want  a delicious Gari-Gari Kun

or something like this

you should say ice lolly.

It's a little confusing so  let me break it down for you.

This is ice cream

ice cream

probably ice cream

ice lolly

ice lolly

...umm...

You might be wondering, what's wrong with this?

It's true that note is an English word

but actually a note is what  we say for a small memo

written down on usually a small piece of  paper like a scrap of paper or something.

In Japanese, you'd probably call it a memo

but in English, it's definitely note.

So, you can see how you could be misunderstood

if you use the word note for this.

Instead, you should say the full word notebook.

This one is very tricky, too.

In English, we use the word plug socket.

So, already you can see they're very different.

コンセント sounds like a few English words

but nothing that i could immediately  link to what it describes.

I did a little research

and it seems that a long time  ago in about the 18th century

we used the word concentric plug

to describe the socket and the  plug in both English and Japanese.

But why concentric?

Concentric describes something that is usually

circular in shape or curved in some way.

But our plugs and sockets are not all circular.

Well actually, they used to be.

The original plugs and the  original sockets were circular.

After a while, the words were probably split into

コンセントmeaning the socket or  outlet in American English

and the plug.

So, perhaps it's the case that in  Japanese the word kind of stuck

but in English, it just changed completely.

Either way, if you need a  place to charge your phone

you should ask for a plug socket.

Thank you for watching.

I hope you enjoyed the video

and please stay tuned for part three!

Goodbye!

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