hobson-jobson

[prettygoodword]

hobson-jobson (HOB-suhn-JOB-suhn) - n., a word or phrase borrowed by one language from another and modified in pronunciation to fit the set of sounds the borrowing language typically uses; the act of said borrowing-and-alteration.


Examples given in dictionaries include English hoosegow from Spanish juzgado, and the word itself, an Anglo-Indian alteration dating to the 1630s of Arabic yā Ḥasan, yā Husayn, a Shia lament during the Muharram procession. In studying Japanese, I see a lot of these: purezento for present, kurisumasu for Christmas, and so on.

---L.

Comments

[spacedlaw.livejournal.com]

Intersting! i did not know there was a word for this too. But there always is one, isn't there just?

[prettygoodword.livejournal.com]

Usually at least one technical term and one layman's word.

---L.