karoshi

Where does the word "karoshi" come from? It comes from Japanese karōshi, and was adopted directly into English (1980s-1990s).

Karoshi’s story begins in Japanese: karōshi meant “death caused by overwork.” Coined by Japanese doctors to name sudden death from overwork. It reached English by 1980s-1990s as karoshi. Picked up by international journalism covering Japan's corporate work culture. Today, karoshi means death caused by overwork, a term first used to describe a phenomenon in Japanese corporate culture.

1. Stage 1 · Japanese · 1970s-1980s karōshi "death caused by overwork", coined by Japanese doctors to name sudden death from overwork.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1980s-1990s karoshi "death from overwork", picked up by international journalism covering Japan's corporate work culture.