[scottishcow]

This is tangential to the author's argument but it's amusing to see how the word "kawaii" has taken a life of its own in the West.

In Japan we often make gratuitous use of English words (yokomoji, lit. "sideways-written characters") to make things sound more interesting than they really are, seems like it works the other way around too.

[GuB-42]

In France too, English words are commonly used to make things sound more interesting, more modern.

Especially hilarious when management uses English words, often improperly, when a perfectly adequate and commonly used French word exists.

Maybe it is a global trend all over the the world since English became the de facto international language.

[Befterriager]

> In France too, [...] hilarious when management uses English words

Recently (well... back when going to the office was still a thing) I had a meeting with a senior manager at our company. At the end of the meeting, he grabbed his iPhone and said "I am going to take a selfie of the whiteboard" (in French except for the word 'selfie') thinking that meant any kind of picture.

[f1refly]

We got the same thing happening in germany as well and i don't know a single person who thinks it sounds good. The (typically) senior PMs seem to be oblivious how everyone's making fun of them behind their backs because of how ridiculous they sound.

[satvikpendem]

Also hilarious is the opposite, French being used in English feels more sophisticated. It just has un je ne sais quoi about it.