Sunday, November 06, 2005

Noisy

女三人寄れば姦しい

Romaji: Onna sannin yoreba kashimashii
Word for Word: (If) three women visit, noisy
Proper English: Wherever three women gather it is noisy

Notes: this is a sort of pun, since the kanji for kashimashii (noisy/boisterous) is made up of three small kanji for woman. Interestingly, the meaning of this kanji in compounds usually implies craftiness or wickedness. Eg: kanjin = villain/scoundrel; kampu = adultress.
yoreba is a conditional form of yoru = to visit/drop in

Every culture has aphorisms, many are similiar. You can learn more Japanese ones here.

The Japanese language is rich in puns, some of which are real groaners.

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