New English Words

The newest Oxford English Dictionary has about 20 words that come from Japanese. They include katsu, tonkotsu, karaage, onigiri, donburi, and takoyaki. This shows that Japanese food is popular in the English-speaking world. Actually, katsu comes from an English word, “cutlet” but it is cooked in different ways in different countries. I’m sure that people know tonkotsu because ramen is very popular. Takoyaki is a little surprising to me because people seldom eat octopus, and I’ve never had anything like this little hot snack outside Japan. I’m also surprised by onigiri. I still remember going on a picnic when I first came to Japan. I loved the karaage in the picnic basket, but I didn’t like the cold rice balls. (120 words)