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This is tangential to the author's argument but it's amusing to see how the word "kawaii" has taken a life of its own in the West.

In Japan we often make gratuitous use of English words (yokomoji, lit. "sideways-written characters") to make things sound more interesting than they really are, seems like it works the other way around too.



In France too, English words are commonly used to make things sound more interesting, more modern.

Especially hilarious when management uses English words, often improperly, when a perfectly adequate and commonly used French word exists.

Maybe it is a global trend all over the the world since English became the de facto international language.


> In France too, [...] hilarious when management uses English words

Recently (well... back when going to the office was still a thing) I had a meeting with a senior manager at our company. At the end of the meeting, he grabbed his iPhone and said "I am going to take a selfie of the whiteboard" (in French except for the word 'selfie') thinking that meant any kind of picture.


We got the same thing happening in germany as well and i don't know a single person who thinks it sounds good. The (typically) senior PMs seem to be oblivious how everyone's making fun of them behind their backs because of how ridiculous they sound.


Also hilarious is the opposite, French being used in English feels more sophisticated. It just has un je ne sais quoi about it.




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