Words are amazing things, able to communicate meaning in spoken and written form and also adapt when new concepts come along that need naming, like the word “Madopantsu,” which describes Homura’s favorite thing. The Japanese import a lot of English words, often due to the constant march of technology but also because English words sound 格好いい kakko ii (cool, good style). One English word that comes up a lot in Japan is “free,” which happens to be the name of Kyoto Animation’s popular anime about boys in a swimming team. The word “free” carries its normal meaning of “without restraint or limitation,” though it’s other meaning of “costing no money” sometimes applies. If you make a call to a company asking about their products, the call will likely be “free dial” (a.k.a. a toll-free call), and many Japanese apparel and cosplay products are listed as being “free size” by the manufacturers, which basically means “one size fits all.” During off-peak hours, a love hotel might advertise “free time,” meaning a time of day where couples can stay for longer than the usual three hours if they like. The Japanese love buying and selling stuff at flea markets…but for linguistic reasons, they think they’re called “free markets,” where products can be bought and sold freely. (The Japanese also think that Pizza Hut is “Pizza Hat” because the red roof looks like a hat to them.)
Some thoughts about the word “free.”
