Body-con

[Douglas G. Wilson]

I saw in a shop window at the local mall recently "Body Con Dresses".

Previously I'd read/heard this only in a Japanese context (e.g., in
William Gibson's _Pattern Recognition_ [2005 I think]).

Google shows many many instances, and dictionary.com shows:

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World English Dictionary
body-con

— n
a. a style of skintight clothing that emphasizes the contours of the body
b. ( as modifier ): a body-con skirt

[C21: shortened from body-conscious ]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 ....

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I suppose this is "wasei eigo" (made-in-Japan English) which has
penetrated the Anglosphere, along with "cosplay" and I'm sure several
other well-known items (and many recondite ones in manga-fan circles
etc.), maybe half of "karaoke" too.

The etymology given above may give away the Japanese origin (or am I
imagining things?): "body conscious" somehow doesn't seem to me a fully
natural term for a tight dress in Anglosphere English, and the use of
"con" as an abbreviation for "conscious" seems strange in Anglosphere
English (as do [e.g.] "cos" for "costume" and "orché" for "orchestra").

There are (I guess) thousands of "wasei eigo" terms like this: if they
stay in Japan and are only spoken/written in Japanese, I guess I'd say
they are Japanese 'words', even if written in katakana.

Of course there are comparable faux-English words in other languages but
I think maybe Japanese is particularly friendly to them.

This list shows some "wasei eigo" and some other stuff:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_gairaigo_and_wasei-eigo_terms

-- Doug Wilson

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