Japanese Abbreviated and Contracted Words - Single Letters As Abbreviations

Single Letters As Abbreviations

Many single letters of the Latin alphabet have names that resemble the pronunciations of Japanese words or characters. Japanese people use them in contexts such as advertising to catch the reader's attention. Other uses of letters include abbreviations of spellings of words. Here are some examples:

  • E: 良い (ii; the word for "good" in Japanese). The letter appears in the name of the company e-homes.
  • J: The first letter of "Japan" as in J.League, J-Phone.
  • Q: The kanji 九 ("nine") have the reading kyū. Japanese "Dial Q2" premium-rate telephone numbers start with 0990.
  • S, M: used for sadism and masochism respectively, often referring to mild personality traits rather than sexual fetishes. "SM" is also used for sadomasochism, instead of "S&M" used in English, in a more sexual context.
  • W: The English word "double." Japanese people sometimes pronounce the letter "double." For example, ”Wデート” (W deeto) means "double date(s)"; "WW Burger" from Freshness Burger has double beef and double cheese.

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