A friend of mine just got back from Japan and taught me a new word, cosplay. Here's the first paragraph of the Wikipedia entry.

quote:

Cosplay (コスプレ kosupure), a contraction (or portmanteau) of the English words "costume" and "play", is a Japanese subculture centered on dressing as characters from manga, anime, tokusatsu, and video games, and, less commonly, Japanese live action television shows, fantasy movies, or Japanese pop music bands. However, in some circles, "cosplay" has been expanded to mean simply wearing a costume.

And, it's no longer just a Japanese word. It's been imported into the States. I remember, when I was learning Japanese after the company I worked for was acquired by a Japanese company, being fascinated with English "loans" like waishatsu (white shirt) 'dress shirt' and sararīman (サラリーマン, salaryman) 'white-color employee'. In fact you can add color words to qualify waishatsu. The Japanese have their own brand of English.

It almost seems "politically incorrect" to call it "Engrish." I liked the words for chocolate.