Friday, December 28, 2018

Oh, Ok

Zさん:"Sometimes romaji can be much more pragmatic than ひらがな and カタカナ。For romaji, if one pronounces the letter 'O', then one's mouth forms the shape of the letter 'O'. I have never seen anyone form their mouth in the shape of 'お', or even 'オ'."

Friday, December 21, 2018

Small Namesake

Aさん:「Hi, Zさん。I'd like you to meet my new girlfriend, Allison.」
Allison:"Nice to meet you."
Zさん:"Nice to meet you too.  So... do you have a cousin, クモちゃん?"
Aさん:「。。。」

Friday, December 14, 2018

Pachelbel's Canon

Zさん:"Ever notice how deeply engrained "Pachelbel's Canon" is in the Japanese musical psyche?  It is heard in loudspeakers of almost all department stores and train stations.  Innumerable J-POP songs pilfered the chord progression, and layered it with lovelorn lyrics.   The funny thing is, most Japanese people realize this and don't seem to mind!  I guess if you find something that works, don't reinvent the wheel of fifths."

Friday, December 7, 2018

Petting Zoo

Zさん:“This place is bizarre! None of the animals have genders! Gender-less ponies, gender-less pigs, gender-less goats, even this chicken! 変かな!”
Aさん:「ルースターかな。。。」
Zさん:“... Exactly!”