# What words has English borrowed from other languages since 2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450 "2016-03-28T11:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Moris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moris/32/2846_2.png) [@Moris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moris)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/81 "2016-03-30T04:45:58Z")
**Spomenik** simply means _monument_ in Croatian/Serbian, but in the english language context, I saw _spomeniks_ specifically referring to the bizarre futuristic memorials from the Balkans, now decaying. There’s at least half a dozen various articles/list on the web, here’s [one](http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/photography-blog/2013/jun/18/spomeniks-war-monuments-former-yugoslavia-photography). ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/82 "2016-03-30T09:16:21Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > As might be expected, jalapeno, chipotle, etc were current in the English used in the south-western US for quite a while before they achieved wider currency. There are plenty of cites from writing in or about Texas. Lady Bird Johnson mentions jalapenos in her _White House Diaries_. (Hash with jalapenos was apparently one of Lyndon’s favourite foods. She doesn’t feel she needs to tell her readers what a jalapeno is.) The diaries were published in 1970 but presumably written some years earlier. And for decades before that, the words were turning up in books about the food or the culture of the region. But you don’t find many cites not linked to Texas or Mexico for jalapeno until the mid-80s; for chipotle until the mid-90s. For that matter, most of these terms seemed to have entered general American English parlance quite a while before jumping across the pond. First I heard of a jalapeno was in Eddie Rocket’s (Irish fast food chain) circa 2000. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/83 "2016-03-30T09:42:44Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I don’t know how long it lasted but in the UK using the slang “poonany” (which has similar origins to the US term poontang) for female genitalia went from an obscure west indian term, to fairly mainstream slang after Ali G popularized it in the early 2000s. Thankfully, it largely vanished from mainstream slang just as quickly. I haven’t heard it used since Ali G went off the air (although “poontang” and “poon” remain in use in cruder circles). Likewise, mockney TV chef Jamie Oliver made “pukka” popular with the wider UK population in the 1990s, another fad that has fortunately faded. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/84 "2016-03-30T11:36:45Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Jihad? > > Rosbif is french for roast beef. It’s also been around for well over 16 years - I was aware of the term as the French equivalent of “Frog” (mildly derogatory, but in an unmenacing way) in the mid-late 90s, and that was in New Zealand. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/85 "2016-03-30T11:53:52Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > It’s also been around for well over 16 years - I was aware of the term as the French equivalent of “Frog” (mildly derogatory, but in an unmenacing way) in the mid-late 90s, and that was in New Zealand. Oddly enough in the Irish language the word for a French person and a rat is the same, “francach”. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/86 "2016-03-30T11:55:13Z")
And speaking of French, how recently did the term “parkour” start being used in English? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/87 "2016-03-30T12:44:47Z")
[Google’s Ngram](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=parkour&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cparkour%3B%2Cc0) has it starting to appear in English books in 2000. ---
**Author:** ![JR\_Brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JR\_Brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JR_Brown)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/88 "2016-03-30T20:19:53Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > That “ko” means powder, not child. (Same sound, different kanji.) Good example though. What?! [checks] Poot, “bread babies” was such a cute idea… ☹ > [@Loopus](#): > > “Pan” is Spanish for bread. Portuguese for bread is “pão.” “Pan” is Japanese for bread and everyone agrees it comes from Portuguese. Perhaps there was some later Spanish influence that lead to the “pan” pronunciation? Or maybe the Portuguese pronunciation was closer to “pan” in the 16th century? > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Not familiar with that last one in that context - I’ve always understood “mook” to be a synonym for “goons” or “henchmen”, particularly in a video game, movie, or TV show. Different word, same pronunciation. [Your mook.](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mook) [My mook.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mook_%28publishing%29) ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/89 "2016-03-30T20:28:51Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > “Pan” is Japanese for bread and everyone agrees it comes from Portuguese. Perhaps there was some later Spanish influence that lead to the “pan” pronunciation? Or maybe the Portuguese pronunciation was closer to “pan” in the 16th century? It’s already pretty close. It’s a very nasal vowel, so the Portuguese word for “bread” sounds a lot like “pow…n”. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/90 "2016-03-30T22:13:21Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > It’s already pretty close. It’s a very nasal vowel, so the Portuguese word for “bread” sounds a lot like “pow…n”. And Japanese generally don’t pronounce a terminal “n” the way we do (or the Spanish do) anyway. It’s a bit nasal. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/91 "2016-03-30T22:50:32Z")
In my childhood in the 80s in Ohio (so, reasonably far from Tex-Mex land), we knew of jalapenos. Of course, we knew them as “that really, really hot pepper that a person would be a fool to actually eat”. They occupied much the same space in popular consciousness that habaneros do now. Thankfully, I’ve since learned better. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/92 "2016-03-30T23:01:06Z")
When did jalapenos with nachos become a thing? I guess I did really start going to movies until the late 80s (which is where I had most of my nacho consumption), but I can’t remember a time when they came without the option of pickled jalapeno slices. Then again, I also live in Chicago which has a significant Hispanic population. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/93 "2016-03-30T23:10:34Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I had a professor in central California, circa 1990, who was obviously from Hawaii. When he wanted us to pass our papers to the center aisle, he said “Wiki-wiki!”. Chevron gas stations had a Hawaiian-themed promotion in the '60s offering [Wiki-Wiki Dollars](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_wiki_dollar). And according to that link, “wiki” turns out to be one of those borrowed-back words, as the Hawaiian word is itself a corruption of the English “quickly.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2016, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/94 "2016-03-30T23:21:00Z")
What about words from the artificial languages in _Game of Thrones_? Since the HBO series has been a huge hit, have any of those words gained currency in English? I know if I said “Khaleesi” to many of my friends, they’d know exactly what I was talking about. And then there’s “Frack” from _BSG_ on ScFy channel. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/95 "2016-03-31T00:01:32Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > “Wiki” originates in Hawaiian, IIRC. Was anyone using that in English before 2000? [Dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/wiki?s=t) says Ward Cunningham was using “WikiWikiWeb” in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/96 "2016-03-31T03:14:18Z")
I would think that if any words have entered English from a language that was made up for a book, it would be from Tolkien or Rowling rather than Martin. ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/97 "2016-03-31T03:56:16Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I would think that if any words have entered English from a language that was made up for a book, it would be from Tolkien or Rowling rather than Martin. Or George Orwell, if you consider Newspeak to be a language made up for a book. Newspeak gives us (among others) doublethink, unperson and thoughtcrime, as well as new senses for existing words (e.g. “rectify” in the sense of altering a historical record to show what is now desired to be shown). Anthony Burgess created Nadsat for _A Clockwork Orange_, but offhand I can’t think of any Nadsat words which have made it into vernacular English. Plenty of words coined by Lewis Carroll survive and thrive outside the texts he created them for (e.g. _galumph_), but they aren’t from a created language. And of course there are plenty of common words that either were coined by, or are first recorded as used by, William Shakespeare. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/98 "2016-03-31T04:22:58Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Anthony Burgess created Nadsat for _A Clockwork Orange_, but offhand I can’t think of any Nadsat words which have made it into vernacular English. _Horrorshow_ (“good”) is rare but appears occasionally, although some usage may just be an elision of “horror show” (especially the couple of uses before 1962 when Clockwork Orange was published). ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/99 "2016-03-31T04:32:16Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I would think that if any words have entered English from a language that was made up for a book, it would be from Tolkien or Rowling rather than Martin. According to the[OED](http://public.oed.com/history-of-the-oed/newsletter-archive/jrr-tolkien-and-the-oed/), words from Tolkien that now appear in it include _hobbit, mithril, orc,_ and _mathom_ (although the last two were revivals of Old English words. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2016, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450/100 "2016-03-31T08:27:52Z")
> [@JR\_Brown](#): > > “Pan” is Japanese for bread and everyone agrees it comes from Portuguese. Perhaps there was some later Spanish influence that lead to the “pan” pronunciation? Or maybe the Portuguese pronunciation was closer to “pan” in the 16th century? I suspect it’s a confusion between “coming from Portuguese” and “coming from the Portuguese”. I’ve seen the same issue with Spanish words being identified as “Portuguese roots” in Japanese a few times before; they are always from back when mixed crews were extremely common, partly due to who was king of Portugal at the time. I’m not sure what would be his appropriate numeral for the Crown of Portugal, but in English he’s usually known as Phillip II of Spain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-words-has-english-borrowed-from-other-languages-since-2000/750450.md?page=6)