# Pseudo-anglicism

A pseudo-anglicism is a word in another language that is formed from English elements and may appear to be English, but that does not exist as an English word with the same meaning.
For example, English speakers traveling in France may be struck by the "number of anglicisms—or rather words that look English—which are used in a different sense than they have in English, or which do not exist in English (such as rallye-paper, shake-hand, baby-foot, or baby-parc)".
This is different from a false friend, which is a word with a cognate that has a different main meaning; in some cases, pseudo-anglicisms become false friends.

## Definition and terminology

Pseudo-anglicisms are also called secondary anglicisms, false anglicisms, or pseudo-English.
Pseudo-anglicisms are a kind of lexical borrowing where the source or donor language is English, but where the borrowing is reworked in the receptor or recipient language.
The precise definition varies. Duckworth defines pseudo-anglicisms in German as "neologisms derived from English language material." Furiassi includes words that may exist in English with a "conspicuously different meaning".

## Typology and mechanism

Pseudo-anglicisms can be created in various ways, such as by archaism, i.e., words that once had that meaning in English but are since abandoned; semantic slide, where an English word is used incorrectly to mean something else; conversion of existing words from one part of speech to another; or recombinations by reshuffling English units.
Onysko speaks of two types: pseudo-anglicisms and hybrid anglicisms. The common factor is that each type represents a neologism in the receptor language resulting from a combination of borrowed lexical items from English. Using German as the receptor language, an example of the first type is Wellfit-Bar, a combination of two English lexical units to form a new term in German, which does not exist in English, and which carries the meaning, "a bar that caters to the needs of health-starved people." An example of the second type, is a hybrid based on a German compound word, Weitsprung (long jump), plus the English 'coach', to create the new German word Weitsprung-Coach.
According to Filipović, pseudo-anglicisms can be formed through compounding, suffixation, or ellipsis. For example, the Serbo-Croatian word голман, golman was created from the English word goal, which the word man was added to. Alternatively, suffixes such as -ер, -er or -ист(а), -ist(a) may be added to an English word to create a new word in Serbo-Croatian, such as тенисер, teniser or ватерполист(а), vaterpolist(a). Ellipsis may also occur, wherein a component of an English word is dropped, such as the suffix -ing; examples include бокс, boks from boxing, or хепиенд, hepiend from happy ending.
Another process of word formation that can result in a pseudo-anglicism is a blend word, consisting of portions of two words, like brunch or smog. Rey-Debove & Gagnon attest tansad in French in 1919, from English tan[dem] + sad[dle].

## Scope

Pseudo-anglicisms can be found in many languages that have contact with English around the world, and are attested in nearly all European languages.
The equivalent of pseudo-anglicisms derived from languages other than English also exist. For example, the English-language phrase "double entendre", while often believed to be French and pronounced in a French fashion, is not actually used in French. For other examples, see dog Latin, list of pseudo-French words adapted to English, and list of pseudo-German words adapted to English.

## Examples
### Many languages

Some pseudo-anglicisms are found in many languages and have been characterized as "world-wide pseudo-English", often borrowed via other languages such as French or Italian:
* autostop – hitchhiking in French, Italian, Polish, Serbo-Croatian, Greek οτοστόπ, Russian автостоп, Spanish, Bulgarian, Hungarian, etc.
* basket – basketball in Danish, French, Indonesian, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Greek μπάσκετ, Turkish, etc.; also sneakers in French
* camping – campsite or campground in French, Dutch, Greek κάμπινγκ, Bulgarian къмпинг, Russian ке́мпинг, Polish kemping, Portuguese, Spanish, etc.
* smoking – dinner jacket, tuxedo, or smoking jacket in Danish, French, Portuguese, German, Italian, Dutch, Greek σμόκιν, Russian, etc.

### Korean

* one shot – "bottoms up" (원샷 [wʌn.ɕjat̚])
* hand phone – "cellphone" (핸드폰 [hɛn.dɯ.pon])
* skinship – platonic hand-holding, hugging, etc. (스킨십; seu·kin·sib)

### Romance
#### French

French includes many pseudo-anglicisms, including novel compounds (baby-foot), specifically compounds in -man (tennisman), truncations (foot), places in -ing (dancing meaning dancing-place, not the act of dancing), and a large variety of meaning shifts.
* baby-foot (m, pronounced) – table football
* baby-parc – playpen
* before – drinks in privileged company before a party, a.k.a. "pregame" (opposite of after)
* blind test – music quiz / 'name that tune'
* brushing – blow-dry and styling
* building – high-rise building, tower block
* box – wifi router or parking space
* dancing – dance hall
* flirt – a brief romance, flirtation, a boyfriend or girlfriend
* footing – jogging (though the real English word is also used in French with the same meaning)
* pressing – dry cleaning shop,
* rallye-paper – a "fox-and-hounds" like game, except with paper scraps instead of foxes
* recordman (m; pl: recordmans; f:recordwoman) – record holder, especially in sports
* relooker (verb) to make over; also: relooking (n; masc.) – a makeover
* shake-hand
* speaker, speakerine (feminine) – radio or television announcer
* wheeling – a wheelie

#### Italian

* autogrill (Italian pronunciation:) – rest area (used for any brand, not only for Autogrill chain)
* beauty farm (Italian pronunciation:) – spa
* The French borrowing bloc-notes (French pronunciation:) is sometimes written in the pseudo-English form block-notes (Italian pronunciation:) – notebook
* jolly – the joker in a pack of cards
* pullman – a bus
* smart working Italian pronunciation: – remote work, where "smart" is used referring to other devices with an Internet connection, such as smartphones and smartwatches.
* water (Italian pronunciation:) - flush toilet (from English water closet)

#### Portuguese

* outdoor – billboard
* home office - work from home
* shopping - shopping mall

### Germanic
#### Danish

* babylift – baby transport/carrycot
* butterfly – bow tie
* cottoncoat – trench coat
* cowboytoast – minced meat sandwich
* doorstep – a short and informal press conference
* monkeyclass – economy class
* speedmarker – a felt-tip pen
* stationcar – blend of station wagon (US) and estate car (UK)
* timemanager – a calendar or notebook in which one writes down appointments (from the registered trademark Time Manager)

#### Dutch

* beamer – a video projector (via German pseudo-anglicism Beamer)
* box – a playpen or a music speaker
* keycord – a lanyard
* oldtimer – a classic car
* touringcar – a coach (bus)
* videoclip – a music video

#### German

German pseudo anglicisms often have multiple valid and common ways of writing them, generally either hyphenated (Home-Office) or in one word (Homeoffice).
German speakers, especially teachers, often refer to pseudo-anglicisms as false friends, a translation of the German term that may itself count as a pseudo anglicism.
* Beamer – a video projector
* Bodybag – a messenger bag
* Dressman – a male model (Onysko calls this the 'canonical example' of a pseudo-anglicism.)
* Flipper – a pinball machine
* Funsport – a sport played for amusement, such as skateboarding or frisbee
* Handy – a mobile phone
* Jobticket – a free pass for public transport provided by an employer for employees
* Oldtimer – an antique car
* Shooting – a photoshoot
* trampen (verb) – hitchhiking
* mobbing – bullying

#### Norwegian

* hands – the offence of handball in association football
* sixpence – Flat cap

#### Swedish

* after work – a meeting for drinks after the workday is finished
* backslick – A wet, combed-back hair style
* pocket – A paper-back book

### Slavic
#### Serbian

* бос, bos – crime boss
* букмејкер, bukmejker – a person who bets, especially on sports and other competitions
* голман, golman – goalkeeper
* хепиенд, hepiend – happy ending
* олдтајмер, oldtajmer – classic car
* стреч, streč – stretch fabric

#### Polish

* dres – tracksuit; sometimes also short for dresiarz (chav, gopnik)

#### Russian

* Дресс-кроссинг ("Dress crossing") – clothing swap (analogous to postcrossing, bookcrossing); not to be confused with cross-dressing
* Клипмейкер ("Clip maker") – music video director
* Митинг ("meeting") – rally, demonstration
* Рекордсмен ("records man") – record holder
* Страйкбол ("strikeball") – airsoft
* Фейсконтроль ("Face control") – the policy of screening people based on their appearance

### Austronesian
#### Malaysian Malay

* action – boast; boastful
* best – good
* cable – personal connection or insider
* power – great
* sound – scold
* spender – undergarment for lower body e.g. briefs and panties
* terror – great

#### Indonesian

* busway – TransJakarta bus; bus rapid transit
* cross boy/girl – delinquent person
* free sex – extramarital sex
* hand body – hand & body lotion
* handphone – mobile phone
* healing – going on a vacation to heal mentally
* magic com – multifunctional rice cooker
* outbound – outdoor education or recreational activities
* sorry-dorry-morry-strawberry – sorry not sorry; sorry
* sound – sound reinforcement system
* speed – speedboat
* travel – inter-regional minibus service
* win-win solution – win-win situation; win-win conflict resolution

### Other languages
#### Maltese

* goaler – goalkeeper