Do loanwords have a more formal/technical/"soulless" feel compared to their native counterparts?


Among Russian speakers, there are some rather strong opinions on loanwords. It
is often said that they ruin the beauty of your speech, obscure the meaning of
what you're saying and just generally seem inappropriate and unnecessary when
you can say the same thing using only words of native origin (plus maybe
loanwords that "already became a natural part of the language").

Is there anything similar going on with loanwords in Japanese language? Will
using them frequently make you sound like a try-hard that wants to seem
"advanced" but just ends up being really silly and awkward? If you're, let's
say, writing a fairy tale, is it recommended to avoid loanwords due to their
modern, "less human" feel? Any other situations where they are more
inappropriate than usual?

I'm sorry if this is off-topic and/or too opinion-based. I just feel like
people on here could write some very insightful answers, but if this question
gets closed I'll totally understand.




The argument you introduced is something we often hear in Japan, too. But I
don't know Russian, and I don't know how strongly Russian people dislike
loanwords as compared to Japanese. That said, I think Japanese people are
generally tolerant of loanwords.

Unsurprisingly, in samurai dramas and Japanese fairy tales, loanwords are
normally not used. We hear 匙 instead of スプーン, 暦 instead of カレンダー, 厠 instead of
トイレ, and so on. But this is probably not because loanwords are
"soulless"...it's just that they were not used in those days. Haiku generally
consist of native Japanese words, too, but I think using katakana words is no
longer taboo in modern haiku. Of course it's perfectly fine to use スプーン if you
want to write a sequel of Cinderella, for example.

> Will using them frequently make you sound like a try-hard that wants to seem
> "advanced" but just ends up being really silly and awkward?

Yes, there is a word that buzzed recently and describes exactly this:
[意識高い系](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%84%8F%E8%AD%98%E9%AB%98%E3%81%84%E7%B3%BB)
(lit. "highly conscious folks"). This is a negative-sounding stereotype of
someone who tries to act like a "global businessperson" even though they are
not capable. Trying to use difficult loanwords is one of the typical
characteristics of 意識高い系 people.

To take an example, the following is a real help-wanted ad issued by Rakuten:
[楽天の求人がルー語でヤバイ！](http://togetter.com/li/345155)

> カナダのKoboチームと時折コミュニケーションを行い、グローバルなベストプラクティスを実践していただくグローバルなオポチュニティです。

Or see this "Greetings from the president" (although apparently this is an
intentional joke): [意識高い系社長の挨拶文
カタカナ英語が多すぎて何を言っているかわからないと話題に](http://news.biglobe.ne.jp/trend/0122/blnews_160122_9325103901.html)

>
> 2000年初頭に起こったパラダイムシフトにより様々なキャズムが取り払われ、各社のコアコンピタンスがコモディティ化された結果、先の見えない不況が我々の眼前に覆いかぶさってきています。LIGは自社の強みでもあるファクトベースにおけるブルーオーシャン戦略、いわゆるボトルネックを排除したベネフィット創出事業にフルコミットする事で、安定的な成長を続けています。

A typical response from ordinary Japanese people would be something like "What
the hell is this guy saying? He can't even speak in Japanese!" Well, note that
these are a bit exaggerated examples. In reality, few people try to use
katakana words intentionally because most of us understand that doing so won't
make ourselves look intelligent.

Here's a list of words 意識高い系 people tend to use:
[意識高い系が使っている用語が話題に…。](http://girlschannel.net/topics/259087/)




The argument you introduced is something we often hear in Japan, too. But I
don't know Russian, and I don't know how strongly Russian people dislike
loanwords as compared to Japanese. That said, I think Japanese people are
generally tolerant of loanwords.

Unsurprisingly, in samurai dramas and Japanese fairy tales, loanwords are
normally not used. We hear 匙 instead of スプーン, 暦 instead of カレンダー, 厠 instead of
トイレ, and so on. But this is probably not because loanwords are
"soulless"...it's just that they were not used in those days. Haiku generally
consist of native Japanese words, too, but I think using katakana words is no
longer taboo in modern haiku. Of course it's perfectly fine to use スプーン if you
want to write a sequel of Cinderella, for example.

> Will using them frequently make you sound like a try-hard that wants to seem
> "advanced" but just ends up being really silly and awkward?

Yes, there is a word that buzzed recently and describes exactly this:
[意識高い系](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%84%8F%E8%AD%98%E9%AB%98%E3%81%84%E7%B3%BB)
(lit. "highly conscious folks"). This is a negative-sounding stereotype of
someone who tries to act like a "global businessperson" even though they are
not capable. Trying to use difficult loanwords is one of the typical
characteristics of 意識高い系 people.

To take an example, the following is a real help-wanted ad issued by Rakuten:
[楽天の求人がルー語でヤバイ！](http://togetter.com/li/345155)

> カナダのKoboチームと時折コミュニケーションを行い、グローバルなベストプラクティスを実践していただくグローバルなオポチュニティです。

Or see this "Greetings from the president" (although apparently this is an
intentional joke): [意識高い系社長の挨拶文
カタカナ英語が多すぎて何を言っているかわからないと話題に](http://news.biglobe.ne.jp/trend/0122/blnews_160122_9325103901.html)

>
> 2000年初頭に起こったパラダイムシフトにより様々なキャズムが取り払われ、各社のコアコンピタンスがコモディティ化された結果、先の見えない不況が我々の眼前に覆いかぶさってきています。LIGは自社の強みでもあるファクトベースにおけるブルーオーシャン戦略、いわゆるボトルネックを排除したベネフィット創出事業にフルコミットする事で、安定的な成長を続けています。

A typical response from ordinary Japanese people would be something like "What
the hell is this guy saying? He can't even speak in Japanese!" Well, note that
these are a bit exaggerated examples. In reality, few people try to use
katakana words intentionally because most of us understand that doing so won't
make ourselves look intelligent.

Here's a list of words 意識高い系 people tend to use:
[意識高い系が使っている用語が話題に…。](http://girlschannel.net/topics/259087/)

