air con (ea kon, short for air conditioner) a machine that both cools and heats air, so different from a cooler
alumi (arumi) short for aluminium
apart (apaato, short for apartment) wooden two story block of flats, as opposed to a mansion
baby bed (beibi beddo) cot
barracks (barakku) decrepit buildings
bed town (beddo taun) commuter town
blind (buraindo) shutters
buil (biru short for building) office building (not buildings more generally, which is tatemono)
bungalow (bangaroo) cabin
centi (senchi) short for centimetre
cloak (kurooku) cloakroom, not a cape
cock (kokku) tap for water or gas
concours (konkooru- from French) competition
consent (konsento) electric socket, never used with the meaning of giving consent
cooler (kuura) an air conditioner that only cools the air and doesnt heat, so different from air con
corner (koona) section of shop or magazine, as in cash corner (place with ATMs)
culture centre (karucha sentaa) cultural centre, e.g. local place for adult education
depart (depaato) short for department store, and the full expression is never used. Not used for departments of a company.
dining kitchen (dainingu kitchin) a combined kitchen and dining room (usually a sign of a small flat rather than of modern open plan design)
driveway (doraibuuei) highway/ speedway
dump car (dampu kaa) dump truck
dust box (dasuto bokkusu) trash can/ bin
echo (eko) the acoustics of a space flooring (furooringu) wooden flooring
foundation (faundeishon) make up only, not building etc.
front (furonto) hotel reception/ front desk
game centre (geimu sentaa) amusement arcade/ video arcade
gird (gaado) girder bridge
gom (gomu, from Dutch) rubber and rubber band
health centre (herusu sentaa) recreation centre, rather than a clinic
Hello Work (hero waaku) the official and most commonly used name for government job centres
interphone (intaahon) intercom
kilo (kiiro) short for both kilometre and kilogramme
kiosk (kiyosuku) kiosk/ station shop (i.e. also something you can walk into)
knob (nobu) any kind of door handle, not just a circular one
konbinat (konbinaato from Russian) industrial complex
kraan (karan from Dutch) tap
lift (rifuto) only for cargo, giving elevator (for passengers) and lift two different meanings in Japanese
live house (raibu hausu) a kind of live music venue
living (ribingu) short for living room
living kitchen (ribingu kitchin) open plan living room/ kitchen
log house (rogu hausu) log cabin
mansion a slightly higher class of concrete apartment block, so not a large house
milli (miri) short for both millimetre and milligrams
office buil (ofisu biru) office building, often shortened to biru, as this only refers to office buildings in Japanese (the Japanese word tatemono being more general)
one room mansion (wan ruumu manshon) studio apartment (manshon being an apartment building)
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pension (penshon) a Western-style minshuku, meaning basically a B&B
reception (resepushon) formal dinner, not desk you see when you enter (thats uketsuke for offices and front for hotels)
reform
reform (rifoomu) alteration or repair, e.g. of building or clothes
renewal (rinyuuaru) store renovations
ropeway cable car (in Japanese cable car is only used for one that runs on rails)
scramble (sukuaramburu) a crossing where pedestrians can cross from all sides of a crossroads at the same time, like the famous one outside Shibuya station
sharp pen (shaa pen, short for sharp pencil) mechanical pencil/ automatic pencil
skate rink (sukeeto rinku) skating rink
skyline (sukairain) scenic mountain highway
sofa (sofaa) sofa and armchair
stove (sutoobu) (gas, oil or electric) heater/ fire, so not connected to cooking
suite room (suito rummu) a hotel suite
super (suupa) short for supermarket (the longer form exists but is rarely used) tenant (tenant) for rent (often seen on signs in windows)
terrace (terasu) terrace/ balcony, i.e. often smaller than a terrace would be in English
toile (toire) toilet (note the missing t sound)
trailer house (toreeraa hausu) trailer/ mobile home
trunk room (toranku ruumu) storage room, e.g. a place where you pay to put things into storage
unit bath (yunitto basu) modular bathroom/ prefabricated all in one bathroom
veranda (beranda) usually more like a balcony
washlet (uoshuretto, from wash + toilet) combined toilet and bidet
Grammar revision
