We are so used to Anglicisms that they seem normal to us.
Anglicism is an idiomatic expression of the English language . The concept is usually used specifically to refer to the English term or phrase that is used in another language .
Emergence
Anglicisms can arise when there is no accurate translation of a concept or when a translation is developed that is not appropriate. It is common for them to be used in technical language , although they can appear in any area, even in colloquial and everyday speech .
Rugby , for example, is an anglicism. This English term was not translated into Spanish, but rather the English word (linked to the school where this sport was created) became accepted in our language with the same pronunciation and the same spelling.
Continuing with rugby, many Anglicisms are used in the context of this sporting activity. Words like try , drop , scrum and hooker are frequently used.
Limits of its usefulness
Many times Anglicisms are unnecessary. In recent years, people began to talk about take away, referring to takeaway food . In this way, it is possible to hear phrases like "This restaurant has take away" or "I bought a take away menu" , when you could say "This restaurant has take away food" or "I bought a take away menu" .
The same goes for the English phrase fake news . Despite its increasingly widespread use in Spanish, the correct thing to do is to refer to falsified news or fake news . Even, depending on the context, it is preferable to use notions such as fallacy , hoax or simply lie . There is no reason, in short, to resort to Anglicism.
Disadvantages of Anglicism
Far from being a way to beautify speech or writing, Anglicism generates an undeniable noise that has more than one disadvantage when it comes to transmitting a message. First, not all recipients know its meaning or can deduce it, unless they speak English. This represents an insurmountable wall that automatically stops communication .
On the other hand we have the disadvantage of pronunciation . How many Spanish-speaking people are able to read Anglicisms correctly? At this point, however, two paths open up: the terms that have been taken and modified, and those that are left intact. In the first case, the pronunciation tends to become Spanish , as happens with "mopear" or "cliquear"; In the second, the terrain is more rugged.
The beauty of our language is thrown overboard when we enter into the tongue twisters that certain terms and expressions from English entail, whether we pronounce them perfectly (something that very rarely happens) or whether we destroy them due to lack of knowledge or skill. . This leads us to the following conclusion: if we are not going to use the term correctly in all its aspects, why don't we opt for one in Spanish?
Pronouncing “hot dog” is not as easy as it seems
Justify unnecessary use
Although in cases like those mentioned above it is not necessary to resort to an Anglicism, since we have the appropriate words or expressions in our language to express the same ideas, there are many people who prefer foreign terms. This may seem tempting to give a supposed touch of sophistication to our messages , but the results are always more negative than positive.
The reason most frequently given by those who choose Anglicisms instead of Spanish terms is that "they are shorter and, therefore, save us time and space." This may be true in some cases, where one or two words in English are enough to express concepts that require an entire sentence in our language. However, the damage is still there.