Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. What do you imagine from today’s title “Diet”? I would like to talk about why Japan calls its parliament the Diet. *Diet: 国会（こっかい）
The name Diet may sound strange to most foreign people who usually use the term “diet” o mean food in general or for weight control. But it is also means “gathering,” which is not widely known. Some linguists think that the roots of tehe word “diet” are Greek because it meant the free food given to members of parliament by the citizens of Athens in ancient Greece. In German, a word with the same roots is used to mean the salaries of parliament members.

September 11th News, from NILS Japanese language school.