Posts Tagged: foreign word

Tsundoku—piling up unread books

What is a loanword? English is a great pirate language. If it doesn’t have words for something it just raids other languages for them. Called loanwords, English has borrowed thousands of them from nearly all the main languages. English has taken café from French, pyjamas from Hindi, assassin from Arabic, and the list goes on. […]

Marque—is Jaguar reverting to type?11/10/2026
Jaguar releases the Type 01 This week the Jaguar car company released its new electric car, the Type 01. Jaguar has delivered on its controversial 2024 advertising campaign and Type 00 concept, which attracted widespread ridicule. One journalist suggested that “the marque, again, [is] putting its future on the line”. Famous for its sports cars… Read more: Marque—is Jaguar reverting to type?
Genericide & Entwisle Model of Brand Overshoot01/10/2026
A mate recently sent me a word he thought might interest me—genericide. There are quite a few everyday words that you might not know started life as trademarks: cellophane, aspirin, trampoline and escalator. I came across the same phenomenon in a previous post with cafetière for a coffee plunger. There is something quite ironic about… Read more: Genericide & Entwisle Model of Brand Overshoot
What’s for pudding?27/09/2026
As an English-born Australian I have the “lived experience” of navigating the differences between Australian English and British English. It is a fun place to play but sometimes the two just don’t reconcile. One of the most grating is how the English can call dessert “pudding”. I was brought up with Christmas puddings, suet puddings… Read more: What’s for pudding?

Tsundoku—piling up unread books