Loanwords are words brought into one country from another. Words are generally 'loaned' when two different cultures come into contact with each other. This might be because of immigration, trade, fashions or foods, travellers tales, the arts (paintings, books, poetry or film), technologies, wars or colonisation.
Most loan words tend to be nouns. New objects or attitudes coming from abroad need new words, and often the loaners adopt the original word as their own.
The following are all words that have entered the English language over the course of the twentieth century. Some are used more in America, others are more typically British. Many of these words have arisen through military contact - a number of them relate to war, conflict or the political climate of the period. The other words have entered through cultural contact, and relate to things like food, sport, music and popular culture. Look in an etymological dictionary, or in the Oxford English Dictionary (you'll find a copy in your local library) to find out more about the definitions and origins of these words.
Politics and Conflict
1939 blitz - German
1975 refusenik - Russian
1920 putsch - Swiss German
1986 glasnost - Russian
1941 apparatchik - Russian
1927 apartheid - Afrikaans
1933 czar - Russian (the word had been used in English for centuries to describe the occupant of the Russian throne, but this is the first citing of its modern usage as in "drugs czar" etc.)
1920 bolshy - Russian (we've broadened the meaning from the Russian word Bolshevik and it's now more commonly used as an adjective to describe a teenager than to describe a political revolutionary)
1905 pogrom - Russian
1908 detente - French
1931 kibbutz - modern Hebrew
1946 gulag - Russian (an acronym)1970 Kalashnikov - Russian
1914 realpolitik- German
1931 taoiseach - Irish Gaelic
1964 ninja - Japanese
Culinary terms
1984 balti- Hindi (?)
1935 pizza- Italian
1975 nouvelle cuisine - French
1985 ciabatta- Italian
1958 baguette- French
1928 croissant- French
1905 aperitif - French
1926 haute cuisine - French
1932 bagel- Yiddish
1960 tsatsiki - Turkish
1922 bistro- French
1945 espresso- Italian
1927 pavlova- Russian
1954 deli- German (first cited usage of abbreviation from delicatessen)
1926 smorgasbord- Swedish
1952 wok- Cantonese
1958 doner kebab- Turkish
1903 chow mein- Cantonese
1934 satay- Malaysian
1910 taramasalata- Turkish
1949 nacho- Mexican Spanish
1949 taco- Mexican Spanish
1946 langoustine- French
1989 latte- Italian
1948cappuccino- Italian
Sporting terms
1927 langlauf- German
1938 lutz- Swiss
1905 luge- French
1921 salchow- Swedish
1967 tae kwon do- Korean
1955 karate - Japanese
1966 kung fu- Cantonese
1929 piste- French
1954 après-sk - French
1921 slalom- Norwegian
Popular culture
1966 craic (crack) - Irish Gaelic
1998 ragga- Jamaican Patois
1981 paparazzi- Italian
1947bikini - Marshall Islands
1979 karaoke- Japanese
1981walkman- 'Japanese English' (note the morphological structure - if this were a 'natural' compound word, then it would probably have been 'walking-man'. Note also the plural walkmans, not walkme n!)
1966 art deco- French (abbreviation of art décoratif)
1924 anorak- Greenland eskimo
1997 tamagotchi- Japanese
1980 Rubik's cube- Hungarian
1957 lego- Danish
1915 yo-yo - Philippines
Miscellaneous
1924 angst- German
1902 ubermensch- German
1922 shlep- Yiddish
1930 schnozzle- Yiddish
1945 chutzpah- Yiddish
1912 verboten- German
1924 kaputt- German
Recent entries
gravadlax- Swedish
chav- Romany
chuddies- Hindi
doosra - Hindi/Urdu
fatwah- Arabic
Loan your own words
Your task is to collect words from abroad that have not yet made their way into the English language. You might do this by speaking to people from abroad, or to those that speak different languages - either people in your class, or people in your community. You could also find words in non-English cookery books, or in foreign films. Try to find words that you think would make a good addition to the English language - the words might sound very good, or may perfectly represent something that is new to British culture (a new type of food, a political event, a new technology etc) - or they may represent something you'd like to be introduced to Britain in the future. Create a list of your new loanwords, and make an effort to start using them in your everyday conversations. After a week, check whether any of these words have stuck, and are now familiar to your classmates or your family. Do some words stick better than others? Why might this be?
The Olympic Menu
You have been asked by the mayor of London to organise a banquet for a group of Olympic athletes. Attending the banquet are athletes from each of the following countries:
Russia
Mexico
Iran
Italy
Denmark
France
Malaysia
Turkey
India
Australia
China
Britain
Some of these athletes are very fussy and will only eat food that they know and love. You must put together a menu that includes at least one dish from each of the athletes' countries of origin. But the dishes you choose have to be available in this country. By the way, their coaches have said, just this once, they don't have to stick to special athletes' diets!
