Is "Salaryman" correct English?

Question

I hear that this word comes from Japanese.

This word means "office worker" or "company employee".

So, please compare the following sentences.

1) In Japan, office employees are often ordered to go to remote places or sometimes to foreign countries.

2)Office workers in Japan are often transferred to distant places or occasionally to foreign countries.

3) Japanese big companies sometimes transfer their employees to distant places, sometimes abroad.

4) In Japan, it is common for “salarymen” to move to a completely new place.

Answer 1

I would go with sentence 3, as it makes the best sense

Answer 2

I would use #3, but say "Big Japanese companies" instead of the way you have it. And no, I cannot explain the rule by which the modifiers are sequenced in a sentence. I just know we would say "Japanese companies" is the main thing, and "big" modifies it, not the other way around.

#1 and #2 are both OK, but "office workers" or "office employees" would be harder for most Americans to accept, because here the only people that get transferred are the executives and the engineers. You can hire people for office work anywhere, and do not need to pay for the costs of relocation for them.

#4 would not work in the US, because salarymen is not a term we use.

Answer 3

Yes, Salaryman is right.
It means in Japan, a loyal and unambitious employee of a large corporation.
I would go with sentence #2 OR #4.

Answer 4

Nihon no Sarariman (Japanese Salaryman) or "white collar worker" a businessman. also: sarariman (salaried man)

Only American business professionals know the word, it is not that common and when used in newspapers it is always clarified
as to explain what it is "salaryman" in not an accepted English word in general usage.


Dates from the late 1950's, sarariman seishin or salaryman spirit and such.

Ce qu'on désire c'est devenir un sarariman (salary man), un employé à vie dans une firme prestigieuse -- even the French know it. garantierte; man sprach schon vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg vom „sarariman" (salary man), das heißt vom Hochschulabsolventen, der seine geregelte Arbeitszeit
and the Germans!

Answer 5

No, I have never heard of the term "salaryman" in English. I know what you are trying to say, however I do not know of a term used specifically for it. The best alternative could be "a white collar worker," but I wouldn't use "salaryman"

Answer 6

Sounds like a too-literal translation to me - word ain't in Cassells dictionary - I'd plump for sentence 2.

Answer 7

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.. sentence three is the only one that DOESN'T make sense.

.. the other 3 sentence are all proper grammar.

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