User:Freshgavin/Sandbox/Dajare
Dajare (駄洒落, dajare) is a kind of comic Japanese wordplay, similar in spirit to an English pun relying on similarities in the pronounciation of words to create a simple joke.
While this type of joke is considered 'corny' or even annoying in English, dajare are popular in advertising, and are often a favourite activity producing spontaneous laughs and filling time while drinking sake. Dajare are sometimes associated with 親父 (oyaji, meaning old man, as an 'old man' would be most likely to attempt dajare) by the younger generation.
Examples of dajare[edit]
Example one:
A: 大食いのたけし君も、宇宙ではあまり物を食べられないよ (ōgui no takeshi kun mo, uchū dewa amari mono o taberarenaiyo)
B: なぜ? (naze)
A: 宇宙には食う気がない。 (uchū niwa kūki ga nai)
Translation:
A: In space, even a glutton like Takeshi can't eat anything.
B: Why's that?
A: In space, he has no appetite.
Explanation:
The word kuuki (くうき) can mean either 'air' or 'will to eat', thus what sounds like a perfectly reasonable statement 'in space there is no air' takes on a much stranger meaning when said in context.
Example two:
A: ここの教会が開くの１０時か？ (koko no kyōkai aku no jū ji ka?)
Translation:
A: Does this church open at 10?
Can also be interpreted as:
A: Is this the church of the evil crucifix?
Example three:
A: モルダーはすっかり忘れた。(morudaa ha sukkari wasureta)
Translation:
A: Mulder completely forgot.
Explanation:
This is a reference to the TV-series X-files. Mulder's partner's name in the show is Sculley, which sounds close to the word sukkari (すっかり, meaning 'completely'), thus the sentence can also mean 'Mulder forgot Sculley'.
Example four:
A: 向こうの通りにヘイができたんだってね。(mukō no tōri ni hei ga dekitan datte ne)
B: へぇー。(hee...)
Translation:
A: I hear they finished the wall/fence on the street over there.
B: Oh yeah?
Explanation:
The word for fence/wall here (塀, hei) sounds very similar to the Japanese interjection hee (へえ, similar in usage to the phrases 'oh yeah?' and 'you don't say'), thus the answer sounds like a repeat of the information in the initial statement.
Another version of this same joke replaces hei with kakoi (囲い), which sounds similar to a word meaning something like 'cool' or 'looks good' (かっこいい). "Accidentally" confusing the two similar jokes and switching the responses will produce a 'faint' response (all the Japanese people listening will pretend to fall over) not dissimilar to the response you would get if you told the why did the chicken cross the road? joke wrong.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
http://www.kanjiclinic.com/kc72final.htm Discussion of some dajare seen in advertising promotions in Japan
http://www2.odn.ne.jp/d-palace/index2_e.htm Dajare palace, some English