Comments on: "You say?" Apparently they do.

"You say?" Apparently they do.

tractorfeed — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:18:04 -0800

It's not even Thanksgiving yet and already the 2008 "best of" lists have begun. Here's a list of the Top 60 popular Japanese words/phrases of 2008. "Morning banana" doesn't mean what you think it does. Is Sarah Palin an obaka-aidoru - おバカアイドル ? (via)

By: Damn That Television

Damn That Television — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:33:00 -0800

THIS WEEK IN PEOPLE MAGAZINE, WE COUNT DOWN THE TOP 25 INTEGERS, AND YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHO'S NUMBER 18! But really these are pretty interesting, and not the trite lolengrish things I was expecting (mostly).

By: cucumberfresh

cucumberfresh — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:35:51 -0800

Challenge: write a sentence using as many of these words/phrases as you can. Winner gets a morning banana. Yoshi, yoshi, yoooshi!

By: Phire

Phire — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:34:40 -0800

It's fairly dense reading if you're not already familiar with the concepts mentioned or the culture it is based on, but interesting nevertheless.

By: roger ackroyd

roger ackroyd — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:16:11 -0800

Morning Banana AskMeFi.

By: awfurby

awfurby — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:48:29 -0800

Ah this is great - thanks!

By: nickyskye

nickyskye — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 01:47:15 -0800

Fun learning what's hip in Japan. Thanks. I love the Japangrish translations, like Subprime = sabupuraimu. omg my inner 11 year old girly girl wants over-the-top Hime-den sculpture phones, ooh sparkles and fairy dust. Morning Banana, huh, must be an Eastern relative of Afternoon Delight. Adding to the Japanese words: Japanese Sound effects and what they mean

By: gomichild

gomichild — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:07:03 -0800

Ahhhhhhhhhh! ponyo, ponyo ponyo, sakana no ko - ポ～ニョ、ポニョポニョ、さかなの子～ Too late it's stuck in my brain again....

By: Ghidorah

Ghidorah — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 05:44:54 -0800

nickyskye, the problem with hime-den phones is that the women who carry them have hime-tsume (my own word creation), or fingernails coated in many of the same sorts of things. I've seen women with flowers, ribbons, what have you, plastered to their fingernails, sometimes rising up to a quarter inch off the nail. I can't imagine how they would get anything out of the pocket of the incredibly tight jeans they wear. Nor can I imagine how they'd deal with one of those nasty, dried boogers you just gotta take care of digitally. Just terrifying.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:37:11 -0800

What's the Japanese word for the newsless time of year when every other article published is just a list of tripe filed in September so the writers could take their holidays at the end of the year?

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 06:39:45 -0800

Very interesting—thanks for the post!

By: Bun

Bun — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:48:23 -0800

Thanks for the post, I really enjoyed this last year but had forgotten about it. Around number 50 I was wondering where 何も言えねー would show up, but Kitajima got his turn at 57. As for Ponyo, I feel your pain, Gomichild. It's going to be a tough week or so for me and every around me, being forced to hear that song on repeat.

By: matteo

matteo — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:53:44 -0800

Morning Banana made me laugh. really good post but I'm disappointed they didn't mention bukkake

By: defenestration

defenestration — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 13:19:40 -0800

Stuff like this is appreciated. Thanks for sharing!

By: zardoz

zardoz — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 19:13:04 -0800

Pink Tentacle is awesome. Living in Japan, I know about a lot of these things--but for a lot only vaguely but because my Japanese is so crappy and I don't get all the nuances. Good list.