Puns are a form of word play which suggests two or more meanings, by exploiting multiple meanings of words, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. Although puns are usually immediately recognizable by a native speaker, they can be very difficult for a learner to ...
2
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1answer
152 views
Is punning with homophonic kanji common?
I recently discovered that the mascot for テレビ[塔]{とう} is テレビ[父]{とう}さん.
Answering whether this was a deliberate pun is probably impossible, but I'd like to know, in general, is it common to replace one ...
5
votes
1answer
132 views
Are snowclones common in Japanese?
Are snowclones common in Japanese?
A snowclone is a neologism for a type of cliché and phrasal template
originally defined as "a multi-use, customizable, instantly
recognizable, time-worn, ...
2
votes
1answer
357 views
Japanese pun to pronounce an English phrase [closed]
I have once heard that, during World War II, when the American Troops invaded Okinawa, they wanted the Japanese civilians to surrender, and in order to let the Japanese say the phrase "I surrender", ...
3
votes
1answer
237 views
Why the mixture of *on* and *kun* readings of numbers?
One thing that always puzzled me was why some terms and names that are based on numbers will mix the on and kun readings. I never really understood the rules for that, but it occurs to me that there ...
5
votes
2answers
439 views
Mnemonic phrases for memorizing a word or number sequence
What generally accepted mnemonic phrases are there in Japanese that are used for memorizing a sequence of numbers or words?
5
votes
2answers
209 views
What is the pun in 猥シャツ?
Could someone explain why 猥シャツ is defined as "obscene shirt (pun)"? I don't understand how this is a pun.
猥シャツ 【わいシャツ】 (n) (See Ｙシャツ) obscene shirt (pun)
Source: ...
0
votes
1answer
405 views
What is おやすみNASA胃？
I've seen this in several places. Is that a set phrase? What does that mean?
I know that it's a way of saying "Goodnight," but the NASA胃 doesn't make sense.
1
vote
2answers
391 views
Fun with particles - making a sentence that uses as many as 'em
Let's have some fun with particles! Create a sentence using as many particles as you can. Rules:
The sentence can combine any number of clauses or ideas but it must be meaningful (i.e. no gibberish) ...
14
votes
2answers
409 views
Is Japanese particularly good for punning/spoonerisms? If so, why?
Today I was laughing my heads off reading puns at 言いまつがい, which is a collection of user-contributed accidental puns and other mistakes.
It struck me that I never experienced this kind of ...
8
votes
3answers
184 views
Was the name for the Shōwa era a voluntary pun?
According to dictionaries, the WA 和 in 昭和 has both the meaning of peace, harmonious and Japan, japanese (although mostly as the first kanji of a compound, such as in 和語). So I wonder how Japanese of ...
10
votes
1answer
270 views
What are the origins of 掘った芋いじるな (hotta imo ijiru na)?
The gag expression 掘った芋いじるな (hotta imo ijiruna) sounds to japanese ears uncannily like "What time is it now?" I'm guessing this is Showa era humour, since English probably sounded more foreign then ...
13
votes
3answers
546 views
Rules for slang of Japanese numbers
I often here Japanese use a different method for saying a number like "248" as によんぱ for highways and license plates.
While this one is easy to understand, there are others that I don't quite ...
