LA Times story about infiltration of English words in the Japanese language

[Patty Davies]

Great reply Beverly!

Patty


At 02:19 PM 11/30/02 -0500, Beverly Flanigan wrote:
>This has happened since the beginning of language and the migration and
>intermingling of language speakers!  The process isn't as sneaky as
>'infiltrating' makes it sound; it's called "borrowing," and once the new
>words have settled into the borrowing language, they're called "loan
>words," that is, until they become so familiar that most people no longer
>realize they came from somewhere else.  The perceived "threat" is just
>that--a groundless fear that no one can do anything about anyway.  English
>is probably the greatest borrower of them all; get hold of a history of the
>English language if you can!
>
>At 09:04 AM 11/30/2002 -0800, you wrote:
>>are there instances of words 'infiltrating' another language, then
>>eventually being spat back out, but now with a different (or additional)
>>meaning?
>>
>>cheers - Vida.
>>
>>============
>>
>>TOKYO -- They slide under doors, through windows and past airport
>>immigration unnoticed. The Internet is a veritable breeding ground, as are
>>locker rooms and fashion runways. Seemingly harmless in small doses, their
>>wholesale import now threatens Japan's very identity, say critics.
>>
>>A new computer virus? An insidious North Korean spy plot or some new breed
>>of walking catfish? For many Japanese, the biggest invasion fear is the
>>flood of foreign words infecting their vocabulary, with English heading the
>>charge.
>>
>>http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/la-fg-invade30nov30001429,0,6
>>78427.story?coll=la%