クラクション

クラクションの音で目が覚めた。
クラクションの おとで めが さめた。
I woke up at the sound of クラクション.
Do you think it was a pleasant wake up call?

クラクション is the transliteration of “Klaxon” which is a trademark for a brand of electromechanical horn or alerting device. Apparently the sound of a klaxon is very different from an ordinary horn sound these days but somehow the word クラクション is the standard Japanese word for a “(car) horn.”

So I wouldn’t imagine waking up with a sound of クラクション will mark a pleasant day.

To beep a horn in Japanese should be クラクションを鳴ならす/鳴ならします – a bit lengthy, isn’t it? I didn’t learn to drive in Japan, so I’m not sure how driving instructors tell Japanese learner drivers to beep to avoid a dangerous situation. If they say, クラクションを鳴ならして, an accident will happen before they finish the sentence, though probably the sound クラ… would be enough for a Japanese driver to know what is needed!?

If you want to blame noisy horn sound for not being able to concentrate, you can say: クラクションがうるさすぎて、集中しゅうちゅうできない。

If you liked this post, please share it with your friends through your social media accounts. Also, for more katakana words whose meaning is different from the original English word can be found in my Katakana words page