# Japanese Language Question (flodnak???)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-language-question-flodnak/58850>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 21, 2001, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-language-question-flodnak/58850 "2001-03-21T13:19:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-language-question-flodnak/58850/1 "2001-03-21T13:19:15Z")

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Hey Japanese linguists-

I understand that Katakana is used for foreign words. What I don’t understand is why “milk” is considered a foreign word. When I lived there, it was always spelled in Katakana and pronounced “miiruku.”

So, uh, what did the Japanese call the stuff that seeped out of a breast before an English-speaking person taught them the word “milk”?

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**Author:** ![Chas.E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@Chas.E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chas.E)\
**Post date:** [March 21, 2001, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/japanese-language-question-flodnak/58850/2 "2001-03-21T13:33:04Z")

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Cow’s milk is “gyuunyuu.” There are certain circumstances where you’d use the term gyuunyuu and some circumstances where you’d use the term “miruku” but I don’t happen to recall them because I don’t drink milk so I never bothered to learn the difference.