Reform
- Katakana English: リフォーム
- pronunciation: REE-FOH-Mu
- English origin word: reform
- Actual Japanese word: 改造 (かいぞう / kaizou)
Explanation:
Aside from the unintentionally hilarious use of “homey,” (Whaddup, corporation!) this sign for a remodeling company is an example of 和製英語 (wasei-eigo), or Japanese-English, where a word taken from English is used to mean something totally different. Again, there’s a perfectly good Japanese word that means exactly the same thing (改造) – in this case it’s on the sign with the wasei-eigo term.
What’s Wrong:
Here, ‘reform’ is used to mean ‘remodel,’ whereas native English speakers use ‘reform’ to talk about changing and improving a system or organization, as in ‘educational reform’ or ‘political reform.’ As with all wasei-eigo words, the real damage comes when Japanese students of English say ‘reform’ when they mean ‘remodel,’ causing confusion in the conversation. They naturally assume that since the word came from English, they know what it means. But I think it’s better to stick to Japanese words when speaking Japanese and English words when speaking English.
