Comments on: Pitfalls: MV, PV, CM, CF

By: Aaron@Phrasemix

Aaron@Phrasemix — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 16:18:39 +0000

I can attest to the fact that these are not used in American English.

A couple other Japanese acronyms I know of: “OL” is short for “Office Lady”. “NG” is short for “No Go” or “No Good”.

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Fri, 28 May 2010 02:57:25 +0000

Hi, oxwinter! Thanks for your comment. Yes, they seem like logical abbreviations, right? But they’re just not generally used, although a few people may know them. (For example, if you look in English-speaking J-pop and K-pop online communities, everyone uses those terms. It doesn’t matter if they’re Americans, Canadians, etc.)

I understand why people say “konbini,” etc. If you say “kon-bi-ni-en-su su-to-a” in Japanese, it’s too long! (It’s a result of turning it into katakana.) In English, it’s only 4 syllables. ;)

All of this is natural. Words always change when they enter other languages. Japanese speakers shouldn’t feel bad about it; just be careful when they speak English.

Sometime I’ll write about how English changed the meaning of “hibachi” and the pronunciation of “karaoke”… (English speakers have to be careful when we speak Japanese!)

By: oxwinter

oxwinter — Fri, 28 May 2010 01:08:33 +0000

hello
MV=misic video
PV=promotion video
CM=commercial
CF=commercial film
I didn’t know these words were not used in English.
They are really Pitfalls!

People here like to get English word shortened and use it.
for example,we call Convenience store “Conveni/kon_bi_ni”.hehe

By: Neil Barker

Neil Barker — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 12:18:53 +0000

Yeah, I’ve had Korean students tell me both meanings for CF, but yours makes more sense. I think Korean advertising is pretty heavily influenced by trends in Japan.

By: Clarissa

Clarissa — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:22:27 +0000

Ah, OST was on the list of “Japanese English you can’t use in the US” that I gave to a student here, although–to be fair–you CAN use it with anime fans here, who know it very well (along with “BGM”–background music). I’m going to guess that OST originated in Japan, but I don’t know for sure. CF is totally new to me, though! I get a bunch of hits for it as “commercial film.” Does it mean the same thing as CM (tv ad)?

By: Neil Barker

Neil Barker — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:44:46 +0000

Haha. I’d never heard of any of those. Reminds of the first few weeks after I arrived in Korea. I was always hearing about OSTs (Original Sound Tracks) and CFs (Commercial Faces).