It’s been a bust month for us in Japan. With the state of emergency finally coming to an end (knock on wood), everyone is slowly trying to get back to normalcy. We enjoyed not just one, but four funny Japanese tweets this week.
First, Marimelon1 shows us just how difficult speaking to Amazon’s Alexa in Japanese can be. Next, Paddy_Joy shares his hobby of finding untranslatable words. Then, Yokoumeda, further proves why cursive writing is dead. And, finally, parents tmogi_nichibun need to have a real talk with their kid before Japan’s next disaster.
Fruit Oysters
柿って英語でなんて言うんだっけ？とアレクサに聞いたら何度聞いてもオイスター（牡蠣）って言うから「果物の柿」って聞いたらこう返された
適当なこと言うなよ！
“I asked Alexa, ‘How do you say persimmon in English?’ But she said ‘oyster’ no matter how many times I asked her, so I asked her to say ‘persimmon as a fruit’ and she replied like this.
Don’t say random things!”
Untranslatable words
『翻訳できない世界のことば』が面白い。その存在を知っているけれども単語にしようと思わなかった概念が外国語では存在することがわかります。「妻に許しを乞うためのプレゼント」「肌を締め付る衣服の跡」など。我らの日本語「積ん読」はきっと外国の読者も納得してくれるに違いない。
“I found Words of the Untranslatable World interesting. It shows that there are concepts in foreign languages that we know exist but have never thought to put into words. For example, ‘a gift to ask for forgiveness from your wife’ and ‘a mark on a garment that constricts the skin.’ I’m sure our Japanese “buying books and not reading them” will convince foreign readers.”
Nice work, Blade Runner 2049
Twitter user Doy1969 enjoys making fun of movies with bad Japanese. Unfortunately, Blade Runner 2049 did its research, so he’s a little miffed.
未だに海外で作られた映画における日本語表記は誤字脱字が多いけど、『ブレードランナー2049』のネオンサインはほぼほぼ正確で、それはそれで面白くない(ザ・ワガママ)。
“There are still a lot of misspellings and omissions for Japanese in movies made overseas, but the neon signs in Blade Runner 2049 are almost accurate, and that’s not so fun for me (the selfishness).”
Who even uses cursive anymore?
日本の小学生に筆記体を教えてはいけないわけ↓
“So, we shouldn’t teach cursive script to Japanese elementary school students ↓”
In the picture, the cursive “A” on the left is considered a mistake in Japanese schools, while the “A” on the right is considered correct.
It does start up, tho
This test question is asking what is the first thing prefectural office staff “start” in case of a disaster and the correct answer is “災害対策本部,” meaning create/start a disaster countermeasures office or temporary structure in case of emergency. The child answered パソコン or “personal computer.”
夫婦でゲラゲラ笑ったけど，子どもにとって日常でも非日常でも「立ち上げる」ものは組織ではなく「パソコン」なんだなぁ。
（ちなみに「スマホ」は「立ち上げる」イメージがないらしい)
“We laughed hard as parents, but for children, the thing that they ‘start up’ in their daily life and in emergencies is not an organization but a computer.
(By the way, they don’t have the image of ‘starting up’ a smartphone.)”
Vocabulary
適当なこと tekitouna koto Random things, 存在 sonzai Existence, presence 概念 gainen Concept 納得する nattoku suru Approve, agree with 誤字脱字 gojidatsuji Errors and omissions, typographical errors 筆記体 hikkitai Cursive script ゲラゲラ geragera Roaring (with laughter), laughing heartily 組織 soshiki Organization, system 立ち上げる tachiageru Start (something), boot (a computer), launch (a business)
