ビジネスマンに捧ぐ～　英語学習に役立つ！PEGL事務局ブログ

和製英語と英語の違いを説明するシリーズLost in Translation
第13回の本日は”アールブイ”です。

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Lost in Translation Part.13
アールブイ　RV（recreational vehicle）

Tyler Ayala

With spring fast approaching, this is a heavy vacation time for many foreigners. Especially in the U.S. where there is such a strong automobile culture, many people take to the roads to get away from it all. One of the most popular ways to travel long distances is in an RV. An RV in Japanese might be an automobile like the pictures below.

In America, we don’t consider these cars RVs. We’d call the upper picture an SUV (Sport Utility Vehicle) and the lower picture a Van or mini-van

(c) TYPE R ｜写真素材 PIXTA

(c) furuken ｜写真素材 PIXTA

An RV in the U.S. would probably be more similar to the picture below.

(c) タカサン ｜写真素材 PIXTA

This, however, is not because there was a translation mistake, but rather because there is a culture and geographical difference between Japan and America.

In the U.S., it takes approximately 4 days to travel from the West coast to the East coast. If you add in time for sightseeing, it could take a few weeks. Living for a few weeks in an SUV or Van would be very uncomfortable. However, travelling across Japan is much shorter. Travelling in an SUV or Van wouldn’t be too much trouble.

In addition to the distance, there is a different understanding of the function of a recreational vehicle between Americans and Japanese. For Japanese, a recreational vehicle’s goal is to get the passengers to areas for recreation- like mountainous areas for hiking which require you to cross difficult terrain. In American culture, however, the vehicle should be part of the recreation.

Therefore, it should be comfortable and relaxing while you are travelling to a certain area. In Japan, an American RV wouldn’t work because its ability to travel is restricted while a Japanese RV in the U.S. wouldn’t work because it doesn’t have enough space to house travelers for long periods of time. Both meanings are easily understood by examining the background of the people. This word wasn’t so much ‘lost’ as it was ‘adapted’ in translation.

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※The English described in this blog is from an American perspective. Cultural reactions and vocabulary might be different in other countries like Canada, Britain and Australia.