【No. 0086】Why do we use the word "concent (コンセント)" as the meaning of "outlet?"
I think almost all American don't know the meaning of "concent" as "outlet," while most Japanese don't know the meaning of "outlet."
Today, I'd like to introduce why "concent" came to be used for “outlet” in Japan.
About 100 years ago in Europe, outlets (sockets) that the one pole is in the center, the other pole surrounding the center had been used.
When the outlet was imported into Japan, Japanese gave it the name of "concentric plug" from the shape.
Afterward, the word "concentric plug" had been divided into "concent" and "plug," the meaning of "concent" became "outlet" of "plug."
Actually this story is one of the leading hypothesis.
There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from "consent."
When will the truth be revealed?
私は、多くの（英語を勉強していない）日本人は「outlet」の意味を知らず、多くのアメリカ人は「コンセント」が「outlet」の意味を持つとは知らないと思います。
今日は、何故日本で「コンセント」という言葉を使うようになったかを紹介しようと思います。
約100年前、欧州では中心に一つの極が、その周囲に円形状のもう一つの極があるコンセントが使われていました。
それが日本に輸入されたとき、「コンセントプラグ（同心円上のプラグ：concentric plug）」という名前がつけられました。
そして、後に「コンセント」と「プラグ」という単語に分けられ、「コンセント」は「プラグ」の差込口を意味するようになったとされています。
実は、この話は有力な仮説の一つに過ぎません。
他にも、「consent」から派生した等の説があります。
いつ真実が明かされるのでしょうか？
Corrections (3)
- "Concent" is one of the most confusing Japanese-English words, which means "outlet."
- "Concent" is one of the most confusing Japanese-English (or: "Engrish") words, which means "outlet". (or: wall outlet)
- There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from "consent."
- There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from (the word) "consent."
Interesting!
Thank you so much for correcting my post! :)
You are welcome!
- "Concent" is one of the most confusing Japanese-English words, which means "outlet."
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- I think almost all American don't know the meaning of "concent" as "outlet," while most Japanese don't know the meaning of "outlet."
- I think almost all Americans do not associate the word "concent" to "outlet," while most Japanese don't know the meaning of "outlet."
- Today, I'd like to introduce why "concent" came to be used for “outlet” in Japan.
- Today, I'd like to introduce how "concent" came to be used for the word “outlet” in Japan.
- About 100 years ago in Europe, outlets (sockets) that the one pole is in the center, the other pole surrounding the center had been used.
-
About 100 years ago in Europe, outlets (sockets) that had one pole in the center and another circular pole surrounding it.
I'm not sure how to describe this well.
- When the outlet was imported into Japan, Japanese gave it the name of "concentric plug" from the shape.
- When the outlet was imported into Japan, Japanese named it "concentric plug" due to its circular(?) shape.
- Afterward, the word "concentric plug" had been divided into "concent" and "plug," the meaning of "concent" became "outlet" of "plug."
- Afterward, The words "concentric plug" was then further divided into "concent" and "plug," with the term "concent" taking up the meaning of "outlet" of "plug."
- Actually this story is one of the leading hypothesis.
- This story is one of many hypotheses that explains how the word "concent" actually came about.
- There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from "consent."
- There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from the word "consent."
- When will the truth be revealed?
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
Interesting.. I always learn something new while correcting your entries!
Thank you very much for correcting me again!
I'm so happy about your words. :)
> I'm not sure how to describe this well.
I'm sorry for confusing you, but I think your description is correct. The outlet image is shown in the following URL:
http://www.geocities.jp/nk1028nk/a121113a-1.jpg
- "Concent" is one of the most confusing Japanese-English words, which means "outlet."
-
"Concent" is one of the most confusing English loanwords in Japanese. It means "outlet."
The previous commenter suggested "Engrish," which is a way people refer to Japanese (and other Asian countries, particularly China) mis-translations of English words (derived from the fact that Japanese people often have trouble distinguishing "l" and "r."
However! I think that using "Engrish" is inappropriate here; this is not Japanese being translated into English, but rather a real Japanese word derived from English. "English loanword" is a more appropriate description. English loanwords: ビール、ミルク、ドーアなど。German loanwords: アルバイトなど。French loanwords: アベックなど。Engrish: "Please don't step on the asleep grasses." "
A final note: As with any word that touches on cultural differences, I think "Engrish" has the potential to be used for good or evil. A westerner with ill-will toward Japan could refer to "Engrish" as a mean-spirited way to make fun of Japanese struggles with learning English. A westerner who likes Japan could use the word "Engrish" to light-heartedly joke about humorous Japanese mistranslations. A Japanese person (like yourself) could use it in self-deprecating humor.
- I think almost all American don't know the meaning of "concent" as "outlet," while most Japanese don't know the meaning of "outlet."
- I think almost no Americans don't know that meaning of "concent" means "outlet," and most Japanese don't know the meaning of "outlet."
- Today, I'd like to introduce why "concent" came to be used for “outlet” in Japan.
-
Today, I'd like to explain why "concent" came to be used for “outlet” in Japan.
Introduce is also good, but less frequently used int his context. Most people would say "explain."
- About 100 years ago in Europe, outlets (sockets) that the one pole is in the center, the other pole surrounding the center had been used.
-
About 100 years ago Europe used sockets with one pole in the center, with another pole surrounding the center pole.
I looked at your translation, but I don't really know what "pole" means in this context. Maybe "prong?"
- When the outlet was imported into Japan, Japanese gave it the name of "concentric plug" from the shape.
- When the outlet was imported into Japan, the Japanese gave it the name of "concentric plug" from the shape.
- Afterward, the word "concentric plug" had been divided into "concent" and "plug," the meaning of "concent" became "outlet" of "plug."
-
Afterward, the word "concentric plug" was divided into "concent" and "plug," and "concent" came to mean the "outlet" of the "plug."
(Changed it to slightly more closely follow your translation.
- Actually this story is one of the leading hypothesis.
- Actually, this story is one of the leading hypothesis.
- There are other hypotheses, such as that it was derived from "consent."
- This sentence is perfect! No correction needed!
- When will the truth be revealed?
-
I wonder when will the truth will be revealed?
(To more closely match up with... 何々でしょうか？)
To use "will" in the place you did, you need to make it a question: "I wonder, when will the truth be revealed?"
Interesting! I don't think I would have guessed this. I would have just been puzzled at why Japanese people called plugs "consents."
Whenever I see a word written in かたかな, I always try to sound it out and see if it came from an English word! Sometimes, like with アベック or パン, there's no English word because it's a loanword from another country. I have noticed, though, that sometimes かたかな is used even when the word is a native Japanese word... a lot of animal names, for example, are often written in かたかな。クルマエビ•車海老、ネコ・猫など。I wonder why!
Thank you very much always for correcting my post! (^^)
I can learn a lot from your comments and corrections!
> "English loanword" is a more appropriate description.
Thank you for letting me know the phrase, it sounds cool. Actually, my dictionary said also "Japanglish" instead of "Japanese-English," but I didn't think it's cool.
> A Japanese person (like yourself) could use it in self-deprecating humor.
I would use "Engrish" when my pronunciation confused someone. However, in order to use it in self-deprecating, I have to pronounce "r" accurately. It's like a dilemma, haha.
> I looked at your translation, but I don't really know what "pole" means in this context. Maybe "prong?"
I'm sorry for confusing you. In my sentence, "pole" means like "electrode," and I called slots(or sockets?) on the wall "poles." This pole is same as the pole used in positive pole or N-pole or monopole. Actually, outlets have polar characters.
> クルマエビ•車海老、ネコ・猫など。I wonder why!
There are some complex laws (customs) about using katakana, but for organisms, I think it's simple. In the academic or professional field, we almost always use katakana for animals, plant, and other organisms. The reason is to unify the notation, and to distinguish it from other words. Also, Japanese often use katakana for animals in other fields as well, though we don't need to use katakana. Maybe they think something like "write in katakana is cool," or "write in katakana is cute," or "it's easy to write and read."