Will using real-world cultural vocabulary in a fantasy setting disengage readers?

Question

__If I have certain minor rituals/garments/culture tidbits in a fantasy setting that mirror those of Earth, and I describe them using the real-world vocabulary, will that disengage readers from the fantasy world I've built up?__An example:Let's say I have a fantasy world with absolutely no in-story relation to Earth whatsoever, and I want readers to truly be absorbed in the environment. Let's also say I have a character in this world who wears a [qipao](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheongsam).The term qipao (or "cheongsam" or "mandarin gown") is a simple and efficient way to describe the garment. However, will using one of those terms get readers thinking about China and therefore draw them out of the fantasy world? Will they start to associate the character with Chinese culture and not with whatever fantasy culture I've placed them in?

Answer 1

It depends on the way you write it. If you were to write "Character X wore a qipao every day" it might not come across the way you want. But if you were to write something like "Character X wore a garment that almost resembled the qipao on Earth", that might work. Obviously these are very simplified examples, but make it clear that the garment is not necessarily connected to the culture but more of a way of understanding your extraterrestrial world. I think if you word it cleverly enough you can use the type of vocabulary you're worried about with your story. This might also be the time you need to work on the backstory. For example, your character could have had relatives that traveled to Earth in the past and brought stuff back, making it possible to use in your story. Sounds like a fun writing project, hope this helps!