The Surprising Science Behind the Word ‘Pokémon’

By now, words like “Pokémon,” “karaoke” and “anime” are established terms in modern English. But … are these words English or Japanese? As it turns out, neither! They fall into their own category entirely. “Wasei-eigo” is the Japanese art of making new words out of a combination of existing (usually English) words, and it literally means “Japanese-made English.” Making meaning is never bound by one language.