Pseudo-anglicism

Typology and mechanism

Pseudo-anglicisms can be created in various ways, such as by archaism, (i.e. words that once had that meaning in English but have since been abandoned); semantic slide (where an English word is used to mean something different from its English meaning); conversion of existing words from one part of speech to another; or re-combinations by reshuffling English units.

Onysko speaks of two types: pseudo-anglicisms and hybrid anglicisms. The common factor is that each type represents a neologism in the receptor language resulting from a combination of borrowed lexical items from English. Using German as the receptor language, an example of the first type is Wellfit-Bar, a combination of two English lexical units to form a new term in German, which does not exist in English, and which carries the meaning, "a bar that caters to the needs of health-starved people." An example of the second type, is a hybrid based on a German compound word, Weitsprung (long jump), plus the English "coach", to create the new German word Weitsprung-Coach.

According to Filipović, pseudo-anglicisms can be formed through compounding, suffixation, or ellipsis. For example, the Serbo-Croatian word голман, golman was created from the English word goal, which the word man was added to. Alternatively, suffixes such as -ер, -er or -ист(а), -ist(a) may be added to an English word to create a new word in Serbo-Croatian, such as тенисер, teniser or ватерполист(а), vaterpolist(a). Ellipsis may also occur, wherein a component of an English word is dropped, such as the suffix -ing; examples include бокс, boks from boxing, or хепиенд, hepiend from happy ending.

Another process of word formation that can result in a pseudo-anglicism is a blend word, consisting of portions of two words, like brunch or smog. Rey-Debove & Gagnon attest tansad in French in 1919, from English tan[dem] + sad[dle].

Scope

Pseudo-anglicisms can be found in many languages that have contact with English around the world, and are attested in nearly all European languages.

The equivalent of pseudo-anglicisms derived from languages other than English also exist. For example, the English-language phrase "double entendre", while often believed to be French and pronounced in a French fashion, is not actually used in French. For other examples, see dog Latin, list of pseudo-French words adapted to English, and list of pseudo-German words adapted to English.

Examples

Many languages

Some pseudo-anglicisms are found in many languages and have been characterized as "world-wide pseudo-English", often borrowed via other languages such as French or Italian:

• autostop – hitchhiking in French, Italian, Czech, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Greek οτοστόπ, Russian автостоп, Spanish, Bulgarian, Romanian, Hungarian, etc.
• basket – a shortening of basketball in French, Italian, Romanian baschet, Spanish básquet, Swedish, Turkish, etc. (may also refer to sneakers/trainers, e.g. in French and Romanian)
• camping – campsite or campground in French, Dutch, Greek κάμπινγκ, Bulgarian къмпинг, Russian ке́мпинг, Czech and Polish kemping, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.
• smoking – dinner jacket, tuxedo, or smoking jacket in Danish, French, Czech, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek σμόκιν, Russian, etc.

Korean

• one shot – "bottoms up" (원샷 [wʌn.ɕjat̚])
• hand phone – "cellphone" (핸드폰 [hɛn.dɯ.pon])
• skinship – platonic hand-holding, hugging, etc. (스킨십; [sɯ.kʰin.ɕip̚])

Romance

French

French includes many pseudo-anglicisms, including novel compounds (baby-foot), specifically compounds in -man (tennisman), truncations (foot), places in -ing (dancing meaning dancing-place, not the act of dancing), and a large variety of meaning shifts.

• baby-foot (m, pronounced ) – table football
• baby-parc – playpen
• before – drinks in privileged company before a party, a.k.a. "pregame" (opposite of after)
• blind test – music quiz / "name that tune"
• brushing – blow-dry and styling
• building – high-rise building, tower block
• box – wifi router or parking space
• dancing – dance hall
• dressing (noun) – walk-in closet
• flirt – a brief romance, flirtation, a boyfriend or girlfriend
• footing – jogging (though the real English word is also used in French with the same meaning)
• pressing – dry cleaning shop,
• rallye-paper – a "fox-and-hounds" like game, except with paper scraps instead of foxes
• recordman (m; pl: recordmans; f:recordwoman) – record holder, especially in sports
• relooker (verb) to make over; also: relooking (n; masc.) – a makeover
• scratch (noun) – velcro
• shake-hand
• speaker, speakerine (feminine) – radio or television announcer
• tennisman – a professional tennis player
• wheeling – a wheelie

Italian

• autogrill (Italian pronunciation: ) – rest area (used for any brand, not only for Autogrill chain)
• beauty farm (Italian pronunciation: ) – spa
• The French borrowing bloc-notes (French pronunciation: ) is sometimes written in the pseudo-English form block-notes (Italian pronunciation: ) – notebook
• jolly – the joker in a pack of cards
• pullman – a bus
• smart working Italian pronunciation: – remote work, where "smart" is used referring to other devices with an Internet connection, such as smartphones and smartwatches.
• water (Italian pronunciation: ) – flush toilet (from English water closet)

Portuguese

• outdoor – billboard
• home office – work from home
• shopping – shopping mall
• integralization – Paid-in capital, subscription (finance)

Spanish

• puenting – bungee jumping
• balconing – balconing
• footing (through French) – jogging, running
• by the face – gratis; boldly (literal translation of "por la cara", with those meanings)
• autostop (through French) – hitchhiking
• tunear (v.), tuneo (n.), tuneado (adj.) – to customize
• mitin (from meeting) – political rally
• pressing catch (since 1990s) – freestyle wrestling
• renting – (initially car) rental
• friki, friqui (adj. and n.), frikada (n., "activity"), frikismo (n., "attitue") – nerd, geek
• trávelin (through French) – camera dolly
• videoclip – music video
• from lost to the river (humorous) – in for a penny, in for a pound; (once we reached this situation then there is) nothing to lose (literal translation of "de perdidos al río")

Germanic

Danish

• babylift – baby transport/carrycot
• butterfly – bow tie
• cottoncoat – trench coat
• cowboytoast – minced meat sandwich
• monkeyclass – economy class
• speedmarker – a felt-tip pen
• stationcar – blend of station wagon (US) and estate car (UK)
• timemanager – a calendar or notebook in which one writes down appointments (from the registered trademark Time Manager)

Dutch

• beamer – a video projector (via German pseudo-anglicism Beamer)
• box – a playpen or a music speaker
• coffeeshop – a shop selling cannabis
• keycord – a lanyard
• oldtimer – a classic car
• touringcar – a coach (bus)
• videoclip – a music video

German

German pseudo anglicisms often have multiple valid and common ways of writing them, generally either hyphenated (Home-Office) or in one word (Homeoffice).

• Beamer – a video projector
• Bodybag – a messenger bag
• Dressman – a male model (Onysko calls this the "canonical example" of a pseudo-anglicism.)
• Flipper – a pinball machine
• Funsport – a sport played for amusement, such as skateboarding or frisbee
• Handy – a mobile phone
• Jobticket – a free pass for public transport provided by an employer for employees
• Mobbing – bullying
• Oldtimer – an antique car
• Shooting – a photoshoot
• trampen (verb) – hitchhiking

More examples:

Norwegian

• hands – the offence of handball in association football
• sixpence – Flat cap

Swedish

• afterski – après‐ski
• afterwork – a meeting for drinks after the workday is finished
• backslick – a wet, combed‐back hair style
• mail – e‐mail
• pocket – a paperback book
• public service – public broadcasting
• speaker – an announcer (such as at sporting events)

Slavic

Serbian

• букмејкер, bukmejker – a person who bets, especially on sports and other competitions
• голман, golman – goalkeeper
• хепиенд, hepiend – happy ending
• олдтајмер, oldtajmer – classic car
• стреч, streč – stretch fabric

Polish

• dres – tracksuit; sometimes also short for dresiarz (youth underclass subculture)

Russian

• Клипмейкер ("Clip maker") – music video director
• Митинг ("meeting") – rally, demonstration
• Рекордсмен ("records man") – record holder (cf. French pseudo-anglicism "recordman")
• Страйкбол ("strikeball") – airsoft
• Piar (пиар), from PR for "public relations", came to mean all kind of promotion and related hype; extremely productive, see ru:wikt:пиар for derived words

Austronesian

Malaysian Malay

• action – boast; boastful
• best – good
• cable – personal connection or insider
• power – great
• sound – scold
• spender – undergarment for lower body e.g. briefs and panties
• terror – great

Indonesian

• busway – TransJakarta bus; bus rapid transit
• cross boy/girl – delinquent person
• free sex – extramarital sex
• hand body – hand & body lotion
• handphone – mobile phone
• healing – going on a vacation to heal mentally
• magic com – multifunctional rice cooker
• outbound – outdoor education or recreational activities
• sorry-dorry-morry-strawberry – sorry not sorry; sorry
• sound – sound reinforcement system
• travel – inter-regional minibus service
• win-win solution – win-win situation; win-win conflict resolution

Other languages

Maltese

• goaler – goalkeeper