Pseudo-Anglicism 01 OL, Miss contest, Companion

OL (office lady), Miss contest, Companion

These are words that are used in Japanese. They look and sound like English, and maybe a lot of Japanese people believe that they are actually English.

Here are some examples of how these words would be used in a Japanese conversation context.

"So, are you a student?"
"No, I am OL (office lady). I work for Sony."

"How come there are always so many beautiful women around him?"
"Oh, he is the owner of that Miss contest."

"Are you going to the motor show next week?"
"Of course! I love all the concept cars, but I really want to take photos of the companions."

These words are called pseudo-anglicisms. Words are used in a non-English speaking society which sound like English but the actual meaning is different. Their meanings in Japanese are as below:

office lady → office worker
Miss contest → beauty pageant
companions → motor show girls (party hostess, convention guide)

All these above words slightly irritate my mild feminism spirit.

The word Office Lady (OL) was first introduced into Japanese vocabulary by a woman's magazine in 1964. It refers to working women whose role is mainly assistant work, so it doesn't refer to women in a managing post. I feel it has sort of a condescending nuance, but most people take it very neutrally.

The word "companion" had always reminded me of stories like "Lord of the Rings", "Three Men in a Boat", "Journey to the West", "The Wizard of OZ", all those journey stories, and it always had wholesome buddy chummy kind of feel. However, the same word in a Japanese conversation context carries slightly lascivious impression.

I would happily be a companion in an English context but not in a Japanese one.