What is soraismus?
Soraismus is mixing different languages, often using foreign words incorrectly or without understanding the word’s true meaning.
How to make soraismus
Very simply, to make soraismus one has to know some foreign words. Then substitute these words into one’s native language.
Soraismus can be done by accident. For example, people who do not understand a foreign language will often mix it with their own language.
Examples
| Soraismus | Non-English language |
|---|---|
| “How are you today?” “Comme ci, comme ca.” | French comme ci, comme ca = so-so (*literally: ‘like this, like that’) |
| I love you, mon petit chou. | French mon petit chou’ = a French term of endearment (*literally: ‘my little cabbage’) |
| We don’t know what to do. Can you help us? We need a little of your je ne sais quoi. | French je ne sais quois = I don’t know (*It is often used in English for special skills or knowledge that the speaker doesn’t have or understand) |
| We have to hurry. Achtung, achtung! | German achtung = attention (*Because of war films, many English speakers incorrectly think achtung means ‘action’, or ‘go faster’. The German word for fast is actually ‘schnell’.) |
| “We’ve just had a baby.” “Mazel tov.” | Hebrew mazel tov = good luck (*Mazel tov is often mistakenly used in English to mean ‘congratulations’) |
Using soraismus overseas
It is quite common for people to mix languages when abroad because they only know a few words.
| Soraismus | Non-English language |
|---|---|
| “Can I have a glass of your finest pijiu?” | Chinese pijiu = beer |
| “Can I have another beer desu ka?” | Japanese desu ka = article to make a question in Japanese |
| I drank too much vino. I have a bad guele de bois. | Italian, French vino = wine guele de bois = hungover (*guele de bois is literally ‘wooden snout’) |